Japan to Set Up National Intelligence Bureau as Hub for Countering Foreign Influence, According to Bill Proposal

The Yomiuri Shimbun

15:10 JST, March 4, 2026

The government plans to establish around this summer a national intelligence bureau under an envisaged national intelligence council to serve as its command center for information gathering and analysis, The Yomiuri Shimbun has learned.

The bill is expected to be submitted to the current Diet session, and could be approved by the Cabinet as early as next week.

The new bureau will be tasked with analyzing and evaluating responses to influence operations — the spread of disinformation by foreign forces. Under the proposed legislation, the bureau will be granted comprehensive coordination functions to oversee the intelligence activities of various ministries and agencies.

Chaired by the prime minister, the council will comprise the chief cabinet secretary and relevant Cabinet ministers, including the justice, foreign, finance and defense ministers, as well as the chairperson of the National Public Safety Commission. It will be responsible for formulating basic policies on such matters as national security, the handling of information related to terrorism and other potential threats, and responses intelligence activities by foreign forces.

One aim of the council is to strengthen the ties between policy departments and intelligence departments, ensuring the government can carry out swift, unified assessments of critical information.

Under the legislation, ministries and agencies will be obligated to submit necessary materials and information to the council, and provide explanations.

The national intelligence bureau will function as the secretariat for the council, effectively marking an organizational upgrade for the existing Cabinet Intelligence and Research Office. To reflect this heightened status, the head of the bureau will hold a rank equivalent to the secretary general of the National Security Secretariat.

While the bureau will conduct its own independent intelligence gathering, it will also serve as a hub, consolidating and evaluating information provided by the Defense Ministry, the Public Security Intelligence Agency and other government bodies.