The Japanese government is considering not attending the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons as an observer.

Government sources said Prime Minister Ishiba Shigeru is instead thinking about dispatching a ruling lawmaker to the event, scheduled to take place at the UN headquarters in New York in March.

Groups such as Nobel Peace Prize recipient Nihon Hidankyo and Komeito, the junior coalition partner of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, have been urging the government to take part in the conference as an observer.

Considering the increasingly severe security environment surrounding Japan, the government has apparently decided to place priority on the Japan-US alliance, emphasizing the importance of deterrence by the US nuclear umbrella.

A senior government official said sending to the meeting a lawmaker, not as an individual parliamentarian but one representing the ruling coalition, is meaningful.