Japan Inaugurates New Intelligence Bureau to Boost Security

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi. (Wikimedia Commons/@PressSec_JP)

Japan on Friday launched a National Intelligence Agency and held the first meeting of its newly formed National Intelligence Council, led by Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, as part of efforts to strengthen the country's intelligence capabilities.

The two agencies were established under a law passed in May, which aims to improve Japan's ability to respond to increasingly complex foreign threats, Anadolu reported from Kyodo News (31/7).

The National Intelligence Bureau will serve as the council's secretariat and coordinate intelligence gathered by the National Police Agency, the Foreign Ministry, the Defense Ministry, and other organizations, with the authority to ask them to share information.

The bureau was established as an upgraded version of the Cabinet Intelligence and Research Office and has about 730 staff.

Kazuya Hara, who has served as the Cabinet Intelligence director since June 2023, was appointed as the bureau's first director on Friday.

"The establishment of this council marks the first step in the reform of Japanese intelligence," Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara told a news conference.

"These agencies will allow the government to make the right decisions based on more qualified and timely intelligence," he added.

The council, the central command body on intelligence headed by Prime Minister Takaichi and comprising nine other Cabinet members, confirmed its future operational policy, including measures to protect sensitive information at its first meeting, Kihara said.

They are expected to discuss the establishment of Japan's first national intelligence strategy and the formation of an expert panel to discuss new counter-espionage laws.

The government is expected to set up a panel under the council in the autumn to discuss legislation that could be put before a regular parliamentary session next year.

The draft law may include measures to require a registration system for foreign government agents engaged in lobbying activities, as well as legislation to establish Japan's own foreign intelligence agency.

The ruling Liberal Democrats also proposed several intelligence-related measures on Tuesday, including penalties for foreign influence operations and expanding the interception of communications for national security purposes.

The move has raised concerns among some opposition lawmakers about whether the new bodies can remain politically neutral and whether the proposed legislation could infringe on privacy.