The Digester

Japan to create National Intelligence Agency to centralize intelligence

Feb 28th 2026

The government has finalized a plan to set up a National Intelligence Agency and a National Intelligence Council led by Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi to collect and analyze information from all ministries and speed up policy decisions.

  • Government finalizes plan to create a National Intelligence Agency with comprehensive coordination authority.
  • A bill will establish a National Intelligence Council led by Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, with the new agency serving as its secretariat.
  • The move aims to centralize information now fragmented across the Foreign Ministry, Defense Ministry, National Police Agency and Public Security Intelligence Agency.
  • The ruling LDP calls for an electronic common platform and a major increase in specialized intelligence analysts.
  • The proposal seeks stronger external intelligence capabilities including human intelligence, signals and open source analysis.
  • Counterintelligence measures would require registration of individuals and companies conducting lobbying or influence operations on behalf of foreign governments.

Sources

asahi.com