Japan is moving toward creating its own CIA-style external intelligence agency, with Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi announcing that her government will introduce the country's first national intelligence strategy.
Takaichi made the announcement at the inaugural meeting of an expert panel on intelligence capabilities earlier this week. "We must strengthen our intelligence capabilities to ensure public safety and protect the national interest," she said, adding that before the strategy is announced, the government will issue directions for reforms across the intelligence sector.
The decision follows a proposal from the ruling Liberal Democratic Party calling for the creation of an external intelligence agency modelled on the Central Intelligence Agency of the United States. The demand for an overhaul of Japan's intelligence-gathering network has gained strength in recent months amid allegations that foreign powers, including the United States, Russia and China, have been using Japan for their intelligence operations — activity Tokyo is said to be uncomfortable about.
The strategy push builds on a major reorganization completed earlier this year. On July 31, Japan formally established the National Intelligence Bureau, upgrading the Cabinet Intelligence and Research Office into the country's first unified central intelligence agency. Kazuya Hara, a former National Police Agency security chief who served as secretary to the late Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, became its first director. The roughly 730-strong bureau has been described by Japanese media as a "Japanese CIA."
The overhaul is part of broader changes sweeping Japan's security sector. The Hindu reported on September 30 that Japan is revising three policy documents on national security, national defence and military supplies ahead of schedule, citing challenges emanating from the active battlefields of West Asia and Ukraine.
When unveiled, the strategy would mark Japan's most significant intelligence reform in decades — and another step away from its postwar security framework.
Sources:
The Hindu: Japan forms first national intelligence agency, eyes its own CIA
ECNS: Japan launches national intelligence bureau amid criticism
Takaichi made the announcement at the inaugural meeting of an expert panel on intelligence capabilities earlier this week. "We must strengthen our intelligence capabilities to ensure public safety and protect the national interest," she said, adding that before the strategy is announced, the government will issue directions for reforms across the intelligence sector.
The decision follows a proposal from the ruling Liberal Democratic Party calling for the creation of an external intelligence agency modelled on the Central Intelligence Agency of the United States. The demand for an overhaul of Japan's intelligence-gathering network has gained strength in recent months amid allegations that foreign powers, including the United States, Russia and China, have been using Japan for their intelligence operations — activity Tokyo is said to be uncomfortable about.
The strategy push builds on a major reorganization completed earlier this year. On July 31, Japan formally established the National Intelligence Bureau, upgrading the Cabinet Intelligence and Research Office into the country's first unified central intelligence agency. Kazuya Hara, a former National Police Agency security chief who served as secretary to the late Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, became its first director. The roughly 730-strong bureau has been described by Japanese media as a "Japanese CIA."
The overhaul is part of broader changes sweeping Japan's security sector. The Hindu reported on September 30 that Japan is revising three policy documents on national security, national defence and military supplies ahead of schedule, citing challenges emanating from the active battlefields of West Asia and Ukraine.
When unveiled, the strategy would mark Japan's most significant intelligence reform in decades — and another step away from its postwar security framework.
Sources:
The Hindu: Japan forms first national intelligence agency, eyes its own CIA
ECNS: Japan launches national intelligence bureau amid criticism
