Rudd's first visit to Japan since taking office is aimed at proving the Sinophile premier's commitment to Australia's alliance with Tokyo.

He started his visit in Hiroshima, where he and his wife Therese laid a wreath at a memorial to the 140,000 people killed in the world's first atomic attack.

In another highly symbolic stop, Rudd headed afterwards to Kyoto, the namesake of the landmark environmental treaty that he signed as his first act upon taking office last year.

In a speech at Kyoto University, Rudd proposed the creation of the "International Commission on Nuclear Non-Proliferation and Disarmament" bringing together experts from around the world.

He said the group would be co-chaired by former Australian foreign minister Gareth Evans and that he would ask Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda on Thursday to consider a Japanese national as the other head.

"It is impossible to visit Hiroshima and not be moved by what you see -- a graphic human story of the horrendous impact of nuclear weapons," Rudd said.

"Hiroshima should remind us that we must be vigilant afresh to stop their continued proliferation."

Rudd said the proposed commission would lay the groundwork for the next review conference of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) in 2010.

The Australian leader said the last conference in 2005 ended in disarray as "not a lot of pre-work was done."

The NPT took effect in 1970 and restricted nuclear weapons to the United States, Russia, Britain, France and China -- the five permanent members of the UN Security Council.

India and Pakistan tested nuclear weapons in 1998, while North Korea detonated an atom bomb in 2006.

Iran has defied UN sanctions seeking to force it to suspend uranium enrichment, which Western countries say is aimed at building nuclear weapons. Israel is also widely believed to have a nuclear bomb.

"In the past decade, the world has not paid adequate attention to nuclear weapons," Rudd said.

"We no longer live with the daily fear of nuclear war between two superpowers. But nuclear weapons remain. New states continue to seek to acquire them," he said.

Australia, which has the largest known uranium reserves, and Japan, a major nuclear energy power, could play a role, Rudd said.

"I believe Japan and Australia working together can make a difference in the global debate on proliferation," Rudd said.

After taking office last year, Rudd reversed the decision by his conservative predecessor John Howard to sell uranium to India, citing New Delhi's refusal to join the NPT.

Rudd's commitment to nuclear non-proliferation is likely to be received warmly in Tokyo, where the Australian premier's rise was met with unease.

Japanese officials were privately irate when Rudd, a Mandarin-speaking former diplomat, visited China rather than Japan on his first major overseas visit that also took him to the United States and Europe.

Rudd has also ramped up pressure on Japan over whaling, sending a customs vessel to monitor Tokyo's controversial annual hunt in the Antarctic Ocean.

Since taking office, Rudd scrapped a plan for four-way summits among Australia, Japan, India and the United States -- an "alliance of democracies" championed by Japan's conservative former premier Shinzo Abe.

But senior officials from Australia, Japan and the United States held talks on Monday in Tokyo, Japanese officials said.

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