 Before he became governor of Osaka in 2008 he had argued on several television programs that Japan should possess nuclear weapons, but has since said that this was his private opinion.Hashimoto is a supporter of the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement and has refused to support Ichiro Ozawa's People's Life First party over the issue.In September 2012 Hashimoto suggested that Japan and South Korea jointly manage the Liancourt Rocks, known as Takeshima in Japan and Dokdo in Korea.