Japan gov't affirms no-nuke policy, stays mum on official's nuclear remarks

TOKYO - Japan is committed to its non-nuclear principles, the top government spokesman said Friday, downplaying remarks by an official a day earlier supporting possession of nuclear weapons in a deviation from long-standing policy.

The remarks have triggered calls from both the ruling and opposition party members to dismiss the official, who is involved in devising security policy and is believed to be close to Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi. They also sparked an outcry from atomic bomb survivors who have long campaigned to rid the world of nuclear weapons.