Japan is overhauling its intelligence system by creating a National Intelligence Council and upgrading the Cabinet Intelligence and Research Office into a centralised intelligence agency, marking the country’s biggest intelligence reform since World War II.

This step would overhaul a fragmented system that has long relied on coordination across separate ministries and on support from the United States.

The legislation to establish the new structure passed Japan’s upper house in May, after clearing the lower house a month earlier, and the agency is now on track to be operational by December.

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With quiet resolve, the gears begin to turn

Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has framed the reform as part of a broader effort to strengthen Japan’s defence and intelligence capabilities.

She described the law as “a first step” towards building up the country’s espionage capabilities.

The legislation will create two bodies: a National Intelligence Council, which will function as the government’s command centre for intelligence gathering and analysis, and an operational agency that will replace the existing Cabinet Intelligence and Research Office in a more centralised form.

No room for complacency now

The push comes as Tokyo says it faces growing pressure from nearby adversaries, including China, Russia and North Korea.

Japanese officials and experts say the current system leaves intelligence scattered across the police, the defence ministry, the foreign affairs ministry and other agencies, making it difficult to share information efficiently or respond to foreign interference.

According to Japanese media, the new body will have a budget of about $407 million and will coordinate around 33,000 intelligence personnel already working across government.

The initial workforce is expected to be in the hundreds, with software engineers, cybersecurity specialists and liaison staff posted overseas.

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The reform is intended to improve coordination and reduce interagency barriers.

Sanshiro Hosaka, a research fellow at the Estonia-based International Centre for Defence and Security, said the aim was to strengthen coordination, reduce interagency barriers and ensure intelligence better meets policymakers’ needs.

Ken Kotani, a professor at Nihon University, said, “Japan needs to collect intelligence by herself.”

Western allies, including the United States, Germany and Australia, have advised Tokyo on the new framework, while China has criticised the move and accused Takaichi of stoking militarism.

Old ghosts linger over new ambitions

Japan’s intelligence overhaul also touches a sensitive domestic issue. Post-war distrust of state surveillance runs deep in the country, shaped by memories of wartime policing and by the pacifist Article 9 of the constitution, which renounced war and left Japan without its own foreign intelligence service for decades.

Even so, the latest reforms have gained political momentum. The Cabinet Office currently lacks the authority to force other agencies to hand over information, a gap the new structure is designed to address.

The agency’s launch would mark one of the clearest signals yet that Tokyo is willing to loosen long-standing post-war constraints in response to a more hostile security environment.

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FAQs

Q1: What is Japan’s new intelligence agency?

Japan’s new intelligence agency is a centralised body that will coordinate intelligence gathering and analysis by reorganising the existing Cabinet Intelligence and Research Office and working alongside the newly created National Intelligence Council.

Q2: Why is Japan creating a new intelligence agency now?

Japan says the overhaul is aimed at improving intelligence coordination amid growing security challenges posed by China, Russia and North Korea.