To ensure that the country's nuclear sites remain exclusively for peaceful use, they are subjected to intensive scrutiny by the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna.
The Agency consistently verifies the accuracy and completeness of Japan's declarations regarding its nuclear facilities, material, and activities and conducts monitoring and inspections at relevant facilities.
Its role in Japan will continue to be particularly important in order to dispel any fears that the country may harbor nuclear weapons intentions.
China and the International Atomic Energy Agency are not the only ones following Japan's nuclear activity closely.
Two other audiences are noteworthy.
The first is Japan's public, who have become increasingly wary of the risks and dangers associated with nuclear technology -- whether for civilian or military applications -- following the disaster at Fukushima in 2011.
The second is the country's closest ally, the United States, who is similarly attentive to the state of Japan's nuclear program.
In fact, it is because of Japan's alliance with the United States that the former has even less of an incentive to build a nuclear weapon.
In order to guarantee the security of Japan against major threats in its region, whether a militarily assertive China or a belligerent and nuclear-armed North Korea, Washington has vowed to respond to any serious armed aggression against Japan using whatever means necessary, including nuclear weapons.
By demonstrating the depth of its resolve to defend Japan, the U.S. hopes to deter any potential aggressors from attacking in the first place. U.S. troops stationed in Okinawa are a visible reminder of the alliance and the commitment that underpins it.
As long as Japan believes in the strength of the U.S.'s so-called "extended deterrence" guarantee it is unlikely to see any merit in having its own nuclear weapons capability.
For this reason, both countries work tirelessly to ensure the credibility and durability of their defence partnership -- an immeasurably important aim.
Despite what many may think, the Abe administration sees the new security bill as part of this broader effort to contribute to a two-way military relationship -- not as a legal green light for offensive action.
The bill creates the framework for Japan to give as much to the relationship as it receives, by enabling it to come to the aid of the United States if necessary.
More than anything else, history is likely to undermine any temptation Japan might have to build a bomb.
Japan was the first and only country to ever be attacked with nuclear weapons.
Over 100,000 Japanese citizens were killed in the August 1945 bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Seventy years on, Japan's nuclear history will not be forgotten any time soon.
Indeed, it is because of that history that Japan has become one of the most active signatories of the Non-Proliferation Treaty.
Tokyo has invested significant resources into preventing the illegal spread of nuclear weapons-relevant materials and technology, promoting the conditions needed for nuclear disarmament, and reminding the world of the grotesque effects of the use of an atomic bomb.
The non-proliferation norm is one that Japan will have little incentive to abandon in the short, medium, or likely even in the long-term.
Contrary to the suggestions of some watching legislative developments in Japan, the new security bill is not going to change that.