Kyuma Fumio, who got himself into trouble with his statement that the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki “could not be helped”, suddenly stepped down three days after the incident. Mr. Kyuma's perspective of history, according to which the Pacific War was concluded as a result of the atomic bombing [of Hiroshima and Nagasaki], is not correct by any means (the Soviets joining the war had a greater influence). Even if, however, we take this [perspective] to be true for argument's sake, the use of nuclear weapons remains nonetheless absolutely unacceptable, and therefore it is only natural that a statement like this, coming from a cabinet member, should not be tolerated. It thus seems natural to me, in response [to this statement], that voices demanding Kyuma's resignation were raised not only from the opposition parties, but also from within the ruling party itself; and it seems to me that Mr. Kyuma offering his own resignation was also an appropriate decision.
However, from what Kyuma has been saying publicly, I don't get the feeling that he has reflected on the content of his original statement; it strikes me that what really motivates him is a concern about the negative influence [of his statement] on the Upper House elections. I don't think he understands at all what it is that was so wrong about his statement. It is the line of thinking rooted in statements like this one that enable the provisional possession and use, depending on circumstances and aim, of nuclear weapons as a “necessary evil”; at the very least, this kind of thinking is in conflict with the public appearance of a post-war Japanese national framework that, as a policy, has advocated nuclear disarmament.
In addition, it is not only Mr. Kyuma who has these kinds of political ideas; Foreign Minister Aso Taro and chairman of the Policy Research Council Nakagawa Shoichi, as well as other cabinet ministers and members of the LDP leadership, have also made statements in the past that: “It is important that we discuss the issue of possession of nuclear arms.” There are surely many more members in Abe's cabinet who have a similar attitude [about this issue]. For this reason, Mr. Kyuma's resignation alone will not put an end to this problem; there is a need for opposition forces to put serious pressure on the Abe cabinet over its attitudes with respect to national defense and with respect to nationalism, and to bring to light the controversial issues involved in these attitudes.
Other bloggers questioned Abe's choice of replacement for Kyuma in former prime ministerial advisor Koike Yuriko. Blogger luxemburg writes:
The name Koike Yuriko reminds me: just before the attack on Afghanistan in 2001, she appeared on a TV program with a group of housewives, nearly all of whom had the opinion that “America should not go to war”, and insisted that in fact America should [go to war]. She didn't listen and respond to what the housewives were saying at all, but instead treated them like a bunch of stupid lay people who didn't seem to know anything about international politics. It was extremely unpleasant.
Many Japanese politicians approved of, supported and showed understanding for America's war, but Mrs. Koike was already saying they should go to war before the war had even started. For a Japanese politician, I guess she's pretty unusual.
Bloggers from the actual targets of the A-bomb attacks expressed anger at the former Defense Minister (who, it should be noted, is himself from Nagasaki). From Hiroshima, blogger yuma writes:
As someone who comes from Hiroshima, and also as a human being from the only country in the world to have been the victim of atomic bomb attacks, I felt a lot of resentment at [Mr. Kyuma] for what he said.
They say that “history repeats itself,” and yet he is approving of war and the atomic bomb, mistakes of humanity that cannot be repeated.
He has explained that this is not what he meant, but it is too late now. There is a problem when someone just casually dismisses the historical fact of the “A-Bomb”. The question of whether you approve of or oppose the use of the atomic bomb as a means of conducting military operations demands a decisive answer: it is not like the problem of whether you approve of a policy or not. The atomic bomb is an “absolute evil”.
Because people are young, and because they do not know about the atomic bomb, I believe that we need to seriously confront this problem.
Another blogger from Hiroshima, Apeirophobia, writes:
久間章生防衛相の発言。
広島出身として言葉がでない。
The statement [about the atomic bombing] by Defense Minister Kyuma Fumio.
As someone from Hiroshima, words fail me.
I don't really know if the statement that [the bombing] “could not be helped” is correct or not.
But I'd like him to read [about] the atomic bombing of the city of Hiroshima.
Particularly the section entitled “the immediate aftermath of the dropping of the atomic bomb”.
There are ways to look at this from a historical perspective and from a political perspective, but
I don't think such perspectives simply dismiss it with a few words, as something that “could not be helped”.
There is a wax model that you see just when you enter the Atomic Bomb Museum.
The skin is melting, and trailing down off the [model's] fingers.
When I first saw it, I thought to myself: this must be hell.
From that time on,
Whenever I saw planes flying through the sky, I would hide in the shade of buildings.
When I heard the sound of a siren, I would imagine that it was an air-raid alarm, and move away from the windows.
8.15 a.m. became a very scary time.
This was how horrible it was.