Japan Likely to Adopt Bill Creating National Intelligence Bureau in Current Diet Session

The Yomiuri Shimbun

13:54 JST, April 23, 2026

A bill that would create a national intelligence bureau was passed by the House of Representatives on Thursday, paving the way for it to be enacted in the current Diet session.

The bill was sent to the House of Councillors.

Under the bill, the bureau will be established under a national intelligence council and will serve as a coordinating hub. Ministries and agencies will be required to provide necessary documents and information to the bureau.

On Wednesday, the bill was passed by the House of Representatives’ Cabinet Committee with majority support from the ruling parties as well as the Centrist Reform Alliance, the Democratic Party for the People, Team Mirai and Sanseito. The Japanese Communist Party opposed the bill.

With the DPFP’s support, the bill is highly likely to be enacted during the current Diet session, as the ruling parties will be able to secure a majority in the upper house even though they are in the minority.

“I feel that these days the international [security] environment is not only severe but also rapidly changing,” Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara said before the bill was passed by the committee. “It is necessary to strengthen the command structure for rapid decision-making.”

Political parties, including the CRA, had raised concerns that the bill may lead to excessive surveillance by intelligence agencies and that increased political involvement may undermine political neutrality.

The CRA supported the bill after the committee adopted an additional resolution calling for due consideration of privacy protection and for political neutrality to be ensured.