Amid growing geopolitical uncertainty in the Indo-Pacific and increasing threats from espionage and advanced forms of warfare, Japan is establishing its first centralized intelligence agency since World War II.
Experts said the move is in accordance with Tokyo’s defense transformation under its 2022 National Security Strategy that is increasingly giving value to timely intelligence, in-depth analysis and stronger information sharing, as well as enhanced counterstrike capabilities. It’ll also help diversify Japan’s defense partnerships.
Japan’s Diet enacted legislation establishing the new intelligence framework on Wednesday, May 27, after the House of Councillors approved the bill by majority vote.
“This act is intended to strengthen the foundations of Japan’s intelligence capabilities in an increasingly complex and severe international environment,” Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said in response to questions from reporters.
Japan’s intelligence community is currently divided among several organizations, including the Cabinet Intelligence and Research Office (CIRO), the National Police Agency’s Security Bureau, the Public Security Intelligence Agency under the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Intelligence and Analysis Service, and the Defense Intelligence Headquarters, according to Nippon.com.
Success
You are now signed up for our newsletter
Success
Check your email to complete sign up
The new law begins a reform process aimed at improving coordination among these organizations through the creation of a National Intelligence Council (NIC), chaired by the prime minister. Takaichi described the legislation as the “first step” toward strengthening Japan’s intelligence capabilities.
RELATED COVERAGE
- Takaichi-Modi Summit Re-emphasized India’s Centrality to the Indo-Pacific: Experts
- Japan Arrests 3 Over Alleged Cambodia Organ Transplant Brokerage Involving Chinese Physician
- China Tests Submarine-Launched Ballistic Missile During US-Led RIMPAC Exercise
The NIC is expected to be created as early as this month, according to Kyodo News. It will formulate a National Intelligence Strategy and will coordinate intelligence collection and assessment across ministries and organisations through a newly created National Intelligence Bureau.
It’ll also supervise Japan’s counterintelligence priorities by setting up an expert panel to discuss counterespionage legislation. It is expected to design a policy with an aim to submit a bill during the 2027 regular parliamentary session.
“By enhancing our information capabilities, it will enable us to respond effectively to the difficult challenges we face, protect the safety and security of the people, and safeguard Japan’s national interests,” Takaichi said.
Move follows Japan’s 2022 National Security Strategy
Japan’s 2022 National Security Strategy (国家安全保障戦略) marked the country’s most significant overhaul of its security policy since World War II, warning that Japan faces its most complex security environment of the postwar era. One expert said the creation of a centralized intelligence structure is consistent with that strategic shift.
Rupal Kalebere, an emerging expert on Indo-Pacific geopolitics and Japan’s security policy, told Vision Times that the 2022 NSS provides for Japan’s broader transformation and the reforms in intelligence institutionalization are consistent with it.
“More integrated intelligence could improve early warning, maritime surveillance, cyber resilience and the speed of government decision-making. It could also support closer intelligence cooperation with Japan’s treaty ally, the United States, and with close security partners such as Australia,” Kalebere said, adding that the reforms would also strengthen Japan’s counterstrike capabilities.
She noted that Japan’s defense spending is projected to reach approximately 1.9 percent of GDP in fiscal year 2026, with the Ministry of Defense’s core budget totaling 8.8093 trillion yen (about US$54.3 billion). Against that backdrop, she said, the newly legislated National Intelligence Council and National Intelligence Bureau represent a significant institutional reform.
“The reform is intended to improve intelligence fusion, inter-agency coordination and strategic decision-making, although it does not merge all of these organizations into a single intelligence service,” she said.
Significant on three levels
Experts said Takaichi’s intelligence reforms are significant because they strengthen Japan’s intelligence capabilities, promote greater strategic self-reliance, and support the country’s efforts to diversify its security partnerships.
In a commentary published June 3, Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) experts Philip Shetler-Jones, senior research fellow for Indo-Pacific security, and visiting fellow Masashi Umehara argued that Japan’s effort to establish a centralized intelligence structure is significant on three levels.
According to Shetler-Jones and Umehara, the most historical aspect about the reforms is the way it catalyses Japanese society’s readiness to overcome a longstanding hesitation to accept their increasing needs for national security and grant power to their government to act on it.
They said while the first stage of this law is to establish the NIC and NIB, the second stage planned for later this year will be the enactment of an anti-spy law and that will be more controversial.
“Counter-espionage and counter-subversion will operate within Japanese society so have to respect concerns that intelligence and security action could be abused for political advantage,” said Shetler-Jones and Umehara.
Lingering concerns over privacy and analytical efficacy
In its May 27 report on the national intelligence bill, Kyodo noted that the legislation had aroused fears among the Japanese public about infringements on citizens’ privacy. Among other things, the law “lacks provisions for parliament to monitor intelligence activities, leaving questions regarding democratic oversight unresolved,” according to Kyodo.
An opinion piece written by Japanese professor and international journalist Mikio Haruna that was published by Kyodo on June 26 further took aim at the provision in the law that make the Japanese prime minister chair of the National Security Council.
“There is no example among advanced countries of a sitting head of government also serving as the head of an intelligence agency,” Haruna, who once was emplpyed by Kyodo, wrote.
As an example, he gave the U.S. National Intelligence Council, which is headed by career intelligence officials, not active politicians, who, unlike “experts with the ability to analyze and assess intelligence,” may lack the required competency.
Haruna noted that the May 27 law means that the National Intelligence Council will both “investigate and deliberate on important matters” related to intelligence activities, as well as handle policy and coordination between the relevant agencies.
“While incumbent Cabinet ministers may be capable of policy coordination, it must be said that they do not possess the expertise required for intelligence analysis,” he wrote.
