After calling for a national debate on whether Japan should arm itself with nuclear weapons-in the racy weekly magazine Shukan Playboy, no less-Shingo Nishimura paid the price for his frankness. In an uncharacteristic display of hyperspeed, Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi sacked his defense vice minister on October 20.

Nishimura had been on the job just two weeks before publicly arguing that India and Pakistan are better able to deter each other's aggression now that both have the bomb, and that nations without nukes, such as Japan, undermine global stability. Known for his hawkishness, Nishimura argued that "the most dangerous (nations) are those that don't have nuclear weapons." In the same interview, the is Liberal Party prot