Yasuhiro Nakasone

He ordered the study in 1970 when he was director-general of the Defense Agency.

The revelation is contained in Nakasone's memoirs published June 25, Kyodo said.

Instructed by Nakasone, military experts estimated Japan could go nuclear within five years at a cost of ¥200 billion at 1970 prices, but concluded it would be impossible to develop nuclear weapons in the absence of a testing ground, Nakasone says.

"I have persistently been against (Japan's possession of nuclear weapons)," Nakasone wrote, according to the report.

But he added, "If the United States removed its nuclear umbrella on Japan, however, this would not be the case. . . . Japan would then have to consider various options including the possession of nuclear weapons."

The Japan Times Weekly: June 26, 2004
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