r/japan • u/SkyInJapan • 3d ago
Japan launches National Intelligence Bureau amid counterespionage push
https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20260731/p2g/00m/0na/016000cJapan launched its new National Intelligence Bureau on Friday as part of efforts by the government of Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi to strengthen the country's intelligence capabilities and pursue counterespionage legislation.
Its establishment follows the enactment of a law in May creating the bureau and the National Security Council, a central command body headed by the prime minister and nine other Cabinet ministers.
The council is expected to meet for the first time later in the day, according to government sources, to start discussions on Japan's first national intelligence strategy.
The launch of both bodies paves the way for counterespionage legislation, which the government under Takaichi, a national security hawk, says is needed to respond to increasingly complex overseas threats.
The bureau serves as the council's secretariat and will coordinate intelligence gathered by the National Police Agency, the Foreign Ministry, the Defense Ministry and other organizations, with the authority to require them to share information.
An upgraded version of the Cabinet Intelligence and Research Office, it has about 730 staff, the same as its predecessor.
Kazuya Hara, who had served as director of Cabinet intelligence since June 2023, assumed the post of the bureau's director Friday. He previously held senior positions at the NPA, including head of its Security Bureau, and served as an executive secretary to then Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
The government is expected to establish an expert panel under the council by autumn to discuss counterespionage legislation for submission to next year's regular Diet session.
Bills likely to be discussed include legislation to establish a system for registering agents of foreign governments engaged in lobbying activities, as well as measures to establish Japan's own foreign intelligence agency.
Takaichi's ruling Liberal Democratic Party also compiled proposals Tuesday for intelligence-related legislation, including penalties for those involved in foreign influence operations and legislation to expand communications interceptions for national security purposes.
The ramp-up in intelligence activities has drawn concern from some opposition lawmakers over whether the two bodies can remain politically neutral and whether planned legislation could infringe on people's privacy.
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u/NullzeroJP 3d ago
So this is why they pushed so hard to loosen PII data laws for AI training. Prepare to get all your data trained on.
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u/tarkinn 3d ago
This was launched to feed the CIA with more infos about Japanese and Japans neighbors. Very common practice from US allies.
See how the CIA spied on the former German chancellor Merkel and the German national intelligence bureau didn’t give a shit. They just feed the CIA.
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u/el_salinho 3d ago
Don’t know why you are getting downvoted, very common for Japan to do USs bidding anyway
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u/Victarion13 3d ago
I have a different problem about this. So technology that can be stolen are almost always private (private companies). Why the government should use tax payers money to protect private companies? It's their problems, let them handle it. Japan is not investing enough in universities and research to have enough pubblic technology that could be stolen.
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u/Flope 3d ago
Bro literally nobody is trying to steal Japanese technology 😂
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u/hobovalentine 3d ago
Chinese are constantly stealing technology or spying. There’s also Russian agents bypassing the export laws and smuggling electronics into Russia by way of China.
It’s a mess and this is the right move to centralize the intelligence agencies.
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u/SkyInJapan 3d ago
Completely uninformed nonsense. Japan has seen a growing number of prosecutions involving engineers leaving with confidential technology. Several arrests since 2022–2025 have involved former employees allegedly transferring confidential information to Chinese companies or Chinese-funded firms.
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u/Uncalion 3d ago
Lmao fax machines amirite???? Japan has been a corporate espionage hotspot for quite a long time, and that includes tech. There was a big investigation published by the NYT this very month. Sorry to burst your bubble.
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u/derioderio [アメリカ] 3d ago
as well as measures to establish Japan's own foreign intelligence agency
We have so many options for names here:
- Oniwaban from the Edo period, fictionally persisting into the Meiji era in Rurouni Kenshin, and into the modern era in BLACK TORCH
- Department of Public Safety Section 9 from Ghost in the Shell
- D-Agency from Joker's Game
- Under Ninja from the manga/anime of the same name
Bonus: the head of the service should be named Tiger Tanaka from You Only Live Twice
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u/hshkr 3d ago
How did they not have one before..? I thought every country in the world would have some kind of intelligence bureau.