包括4个长崎核爆受害者团体在内的32个日本团体于8月4日在长崎市举行记者会，发表抗议声明，反对日本防卫大臣小泉进次郎主张"毫无禁忌地讨论"核武器的言论[1]。长崎核爆受害者协议会会长田中重光代表宣读了声明，强调日本绝不应打破"核武器的禁忌"[1]。抗议声明已递交给小泉进次郎及日本首相高市早苗[1]。
受害者代表表示了对这一言论方向的担忧。朝长万左男指出，"某些政治人物似乎认为，只要拥有核武器，日本就会更加安全，但实际上，这只会让日本走上一条更加危险的道路"[1]。川副忠子则表示，"作为战争核爆受害国，日本深知核武器带来的惨祸，应继续努力推动国际社会形成'核武器是绝对之恶'的国际规范"[1]。
Thirty-two Japanese civic organizations, including four groups representing Nagasaki atomic bombing survivors, issued a joint protest statement on August 4 in Nagasaki City against Defense Minister Koizumi Shinjiro's recent comments advocating for unrestricted discussion of nuclear weapons policy [1]. The organizations delivered their formal statement to both Koizumi and Prime Minister Takagi Sanae [1].
Shigeru Tanaka, chairman of the Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Survivors Council, read the statement on behalf of the protesting groups, emphasizing that Japan must never break "the taboo against nuclear weapons" [1]. Masao Tomonaga stated that "certain political figures appear to believe Japan would become safer by possessing nuclear weapons, yet in reality, this would only push Japan onto an increasingly perilous trajectory" [1]. Tadako Kawasoe added that as a nation that has experienced nuclear warfare devastation, Japan should continue working to establish an international norm treating nuclear weapons as "an absolute evil" [1].
Koizumi had previously advocated for discussing defense policies, including nuclear weapons, "without taboos" [1]. The controversy has intensified amid the government's use of the 2026 Defense White Paper to advance revisions to security policy documents and military expansion initiatives [1].