"We should do our utmost to see that no weapon of mass destruction is ever used again," he said. "It is a matter of course that we should maintain the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty." Japan is the only country to have suffered a nuclear attack. US nuclear bombs obliterated the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in the closing days of World War II, killing more than 210,000 people. "There are heaps of nuclear arms around Japan," he said, expressing concerns about North Korea's nuclear weapons. "They are said to be for deterrence, but there exists a country that appears likely to use them if it doesn't like something."">
Powerful Japanese Outspoken Lawmaker Calls Nagasaki Attack A Crime
Tokyo (AFP) Dec 17 - A senior Japanese lawmaker Sunday called the 1945 US atomic bombing on the city of Nagasaki a "crime" and "impermissible" from a humanitarian viewpoint, a report said. "The US decision to drop such a thing was truly impermissible on humanitarian grounds ... Atomic bombings are a crime," said Shoichi Nakagawa in his speech given in Nagasaki, quoted by Kyodo News agency.

Outspoken Nakagawa, policy chief of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party and a close aide to conservative Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, has repeatedly made hawkish remarks. These include calling for the pacifist nation to debate the possibility of possessing nuclear arms after North Korea tested its first-ever atom bomb. It is rare for senior politicians of Japan, Washington's close ally, to use such strong words to criticize the attacks.

"We should do our utmost to see that no weapon of mass destruction is ever used again," he said. "It is a matter of course that we should maintain the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty." Japan is the only country to have suffered a nuclear attack. US nuclear bombs obliterated the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in the closing days of World War II, killing more than 210,000 people. "There are heaps of nuclear arms around Japan," he said, expressing concerns about North Korea's nuclear weapons. "They are said to be for deterrence, but there exists a country that appears likely to use them if it doesn't like something."