Ruling bloc kicks off first working-level talks on Japan security strategy overhaul

Liberal Democratic Party lawmaker Yasukazu Hamada (second from left) speaks at the first meeting of ruling-party working-level talks on revising Japan’s three key national security documents by year-end, alongside Seiji Maehara of the Japan Innovation Party (left), at the parliament building on Tuesday. | JIJI

Nov 10, 2026

The ruling parties on Tuesday opened their first working-level talks on overhauling Japan’s security strategy by the year’s end, with division over a decades-old ban on bringing nuclear weapons into the country and acquiring nuclear-powered submarines seen as key points of contention.

The Japan Innovation Party (JIP), also known as Nippon Ishin no Kai, wants both issues addressed in the revision of three key security documents, while the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) omitted both from its June recommendations. 

LDP lawmaker and former Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada and senior JIP lawmaker Seiji Maehara presided over the meeting. Participants said there was no substantive discussion of the two contentious issues that day.

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