"The World and Japan" Database (Project Leader: TANAKA Akihiko)
Database of Japanese Politics and International Relations
National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies (GRIPS); Institute for Advanced Studies on Asia (IASA), The University of Tokyo

[Title] Press Conference by Prime Minister Kishida on His Visit to the United States and Other Matters

[Place]
[Date] July 31, 2022
[Source] Prime Minister of Japan and His Cabinet
[Notes] Provisional translation
[Full text]

(On the Prime Minister's aims in attending the Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), and the expected outcomes)

First, with regard to my attendance at this Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), I am heading off to New York with a strong sense of urgency. When I observe the current situation of international divisions surrounding nuclear disarmament and Russian threats to use nuclear weapons, I am acutely aware that international momentum aiming at a world without nuclear weapons is decreasing remarkably at present.

It is precisely because I feel this sense of urgency, and moreover because we find ourselves in this severe situation, that I will attend the NPT Review Conference as the first Japanese prime minister ever to do so, wishing strongly that through this conference I will help to reverse the diminishing momentum towards realizing a world without nuclear weapons and make it an opportunity to re-invigorate international enthusiasm towards that goal.

These are my thoughts as I head off to New York.