Talking Points

Today was the most fun I've had in class in a while. First of all, sort of good news from Japanese class, where I've been thinking about asking to be pushed up a level. I'm generally sort of bored in class, and feel like I could use some higher-level stuff. That being said, because I'm in the second of three levels in regular-track, the only option is studying for the 一級, the highest level Japanese proficiency exam. Which I'm definitely not up for. But Takada Sensei has agreed to find me some extra work, which I'm, surprisingly, looking forward to.

Next up, I was one side in a debate in the Japan's Foreign Policy class. It was a ton of fun, all the more so because I was arguing a position that I do not agree with in any way. My opponent was arguing that Japan should continue to push for disarmament throughout the world. I was arguing that Japan should get a nuclear weapon of its own. I think I may have taken an unhealthy amount of emotional satisfaction from the whole thing.

Anyway, my arguments were as such.

Talking Points
1. There are no good reasons for Japan to maintain its “nuclear allergy”. There are, however, some minor benefits to be gained by obtaining it.
2. Arguing that Japan should have the bomb is not a right-wing argument. See Goyaboy quote.
3. Arguing that Japan should have the bomb does not put one in the same category as the warmongering Iranian President. Japan has no declared intention to attack, much less bomb, anybody. Japan is not a rogue state. A nuclear Japan is not a more dangerous Japan.
4. Arguing that nobody should have the bomb is not relevant to a conversation about, given a certain political climate, whether or not Japan should have the bomb.
5. Arguing that Japan having the bomb is constitutionally illegal is irrelevant. We are talking about how a country should act, not what its limits are.
6. Arguing that a Japanese push for a nuclear bomb would start an Asian arms race is absurd. Three out of four of its neighbours already have the bomb, and South Korea has been secretly enriching Uranium. Of the Asian actors Japan is the most stable, and the best candidate for nuclear weapons.
7. Japan, out of every country in the world, is the only one to know the horrible price of nuclear weapons. It is in the best position of any country to make responsible decisions on the use of nuclear weaponry.

Secondary Talking Points
1. If Japan goes nuclear, it will help rebalance world power away from the United States. This is an Iranian, and more importantly a Chinese and Russian, argument.
2. Insurance Policy. Perhaps a nuclear Japan is beneficial as a balance against a nuclear North Korea, all the more definitive because Japan will be able to take action.
3. American nuclear missiles in Japan are not placed there to defend Japan so much as to defend American interests, and America itself. This is inherently unreliable.
4. A nuclear Japan is not only the best thing for Japan, but the best thing for the world. If recent history has taught us anything, it is that the US cannot do everything on its own. Japan, as a stable, democratic regime, is well-suited for the responsible possession of nuclear weapons in the East Asian theatre.
5. Japan has few stable allies in its own theatre. While cooperation between neighbours can often effect security in a region, that possibility unfortunately is not available to Japan.Be careful not to connect re-armament in general to nuclear armament, since people against re-armament will automatically be against nuclearization.