An End to Dependence on Americans: Japan Shakes Up Its Intelligence Agencies and Returns to the Spy Game
Japan is establishing a new intelligence bureau and a national intelligence council as part of sweeping reforms aimed at strengthening its intelligence capabilities and reducing reliance on the US. The reforms include plans for an anti-espionage law and the creation of a foreign intelligence agency, amid growing threats from China, Russia, and North Korea, and doubts about the reliability of the US as an ally.
Japan is undertaking a comprehensive reform of its intelligence apparatus, aiming to end its long-standing dependence on the United States and regain the status of a spy power. Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has defined the establishment of the new intelligence bureau and the national intelligence council as first steps in a series of necessary reforms in a world that is becoming more dangerous. The reforms are designed to address growing threats from China, Russia, and North Korea, as well as growing anxiety in Tokyo about the reliability of the US as a security anchor. Japanese intelligence has so far been fragmented among the foreign, defense, and justice ministries, and the Cabinet Intelligence and Research Office lacked the authority to manage the agencies. A senior Japanese official previously compared Japanese intelligence to a "kindergarten" compared to the CIA. The new bureau will collect information from all ministries and produce integrated analyses, and the intelligence council, headed by the prime minister, will allow the political echelon to set strategy. Next steps include an anti-espionage law and the establishment of a foreign intelligence agency. The challenges are evident: turf wars between agencies and politicians' lack of experience in working with intelligence material. A document from the ruling party calls on parliament members to be more involved rather than act as passive clients.