New intelligence body meets in ‘spy paradise’ Japan

Japan’s National Intelligence Bureau held its first meeting Friday, a body aimed at centralising information-gathering and addressing accusations that the country is a “spy paradise”.

Under a bill enacted in May, Japan has upgraded an existing intelligence body to serve as the central command for collecting and analysing information related to security and public safety.

The new entity will collate information gathered by different bodies like the police and the defence ministry and report to the National Intelligence Council, also newly created and headed by Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi.

“This is much-needed streamlining to make Japan’s hitherto disjointed intelligence apparatus more fit for purpose,” Yee Kuang Heng, a professor at the Graduate School of Public Policy at the University of Tokyo, told AFP.

Japanese officials have long argued that the nation needs to improve its intelligence capacity to deter foreign spies, prevent terrorism, safeguard sensitive technologies and improve national security.

Former prime minister Yasuhiro Nakasone famously called Japan a “spy paradise” in the 1980s and the moniker has stuck.

The New York Times reported this month that Russia had turned Japan into a “den of spies” and a key source of dual-use technology needed for its war in Ukraine.

The report cited Ukrainian government estimates that 90 percent of Russian missiles and drones contain Japanese components.

Concerns have in recent years also been raised about weaknesses in Japan’s cybersecurity defences.

Takaichi’s critics have voiced concerns that the upgraded intelligence apparatus might lead to the government’s overreach and infringe upon individual freedom and privacy.