UN voting record · Asia
How Japan votes at the UN
Japan votes with the Western democracies and its Asia-Pacific partners. In 2025 it agreed with South Korea on 96% of recorded votes (votes where each country's choice is listed), and with the United Kingdom on 91%. Its agreement with the United States fell to 20%, from 66% in 2024, because the United States voted against most members in 2025. It abstains more than most Western states on nuclear and economic texts and votes with the majority on Gaza.
- 91%
With United KingdomIn 2024: 83% - 96%
With South KoreaClosest voting partner - 83%
With ChinaIn 2024: 63% - 20%
With the USIn 2024: 66%
Share of recorded General Assembly votes on which Japan and each country voted the same way, 2025.
Does Japan vote with the US at the UN?
Less than before, because the United States changed. In 2025 the United States voted no on 174 of 192 recorded votes.
Japan calls its foreign policy a "Free and Open Indo-Pacific," built on a rules-based order. It abstains on many economic texts from developing countries and on decolonization texts. On Gaza and Palestinian statehood, Japan voted yes with the large majority on ceasefire texts and the New York Declaration, a plan for a two-state solution that the Assembly endorsed in September 2025. Japan has not recognized Palestine. Then-Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya said in September 2025 that Japan would not do so "at this moment in time."
Why hasn't Japan joined the nuclear ban treaty?
Japan says the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, which bans nuclear weapons outright, needs "engagement with nuclear weapon states." Japan relies on the United States nuclear umbrella, the US promise to defend it with nuclear weapons if needed. Japan presents its own resolution on nuclear disarmament every year. In December 2025 it passed 147-5-26 (147 in favor, 5 against, 26 abstentions). China, Russia, North Korea, Iran and Nicaragua voted no. The United States abstained. Japan voted no on the ban treaty's resolution. It passed 119-45-12. Explaining its vote in the Assembly's disarmament committee (the First Committee) on November 3, 2025, Japan's delegation said the treaty "could be regarded as the final passage to a world without nuclear weapons. However, in order to change the reality, engagement with nuclear weapon states is necessary."
Japan's 2022 National Security Strategy calls the alliance with the United States, including US "extended deterrence" (the US pledge to protect Japan), "the cornerstone" of its security policy. The government is revising the strategy. In 2024 Nihon Hidankyo, the group of Hiroshima and Nagasaki survivors, won the Nobel Peace Prize.
- Dec 2025Japan's resolution on a world without nuclear weapons147 yes, 5 no, 26 abstainedYes
- Dec 2025The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons119 yes, 45 no, 12 abstainedNo
- Dec 2025Humanitarian consequences of nuclear weapons135 yes, 11 no, 33 abstainedYes
- Dec 2025The Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty176 yes, 1 no, 3 abstainedYes
Do Japan and China clash at the UN?
Japan and China agreed on 83% of votes in 2025, though China voted no on Japan's own nuclear resolution. Their sharpest clash came in letters to the Secretary-General. On November 7, 2025, Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi told parliament that a Chinese attack on Taiwan involving warships "could by all means become a survival-threatening situation" for Japan, a legal term under which Japan's forces may help defend an ally. China's UN ambassador Fu Cong wrote to the Secretary-General on November 21 that if Japan attempted "an armed intervention in the cross-Strait situation, it would be an act of aggression." Japan's ambassador Kazuyuki Yamazaki replied on November 24 that China's claims were "inconsistent with the facts and unsubstantiated." No Assembly vote followed. Japan voted no on Resolution 2758 in 1971. That resolution gave China's UN seat, held until then by the government on Taiwan, to the People's Republic of China.
Which countries vote most like Japan?
Compare with any country →Japan's closest matches in 2025 are South Korea, New Zealand and European democracies. Its least alike are the United States, Israel and Argentina, reflecting the shift in US voting.
- South Korea96%
Andorra95%
Bosnia and Herzegovina95%
Belgium95%
Switzerland95%
Cyprus95%
- United States20%
Israel38%
Argentina46%
Nauru56%
Russia73%
How did Japan vote on the big votes?
| Vote | Japan | United States | China | South Korea | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A just and lasting peace in UkraineFebruary 24, 2025 | Yes | No | Abstained | Yes | Adopted 93–18 |
| Demanding a permanent ceasefire in GazaJune 12, 2025 | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Adopted 149–12 |
| The New York Declaration on two statesSeptember 12, 2025 | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Adopted 142–10 |
| Resolution 2758: who holds China's seatOctober 25, 1971 | No | No | Didn't vote | Didn't vote | Adopted 76–35 |
| Ending the US embargo on CubaOctober 29, 2025 | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Adopted 165–7 |
Where does Japan sit?
Japan sits in the Western cluster with South Korea and European states, far from the United States in 2025.
Australia
India