Japan establishes first central intelligence agency since WWII

Japan launched the National Intelligence Bureau on Friday, its first centralised intelligence body since WWII, upgrading the Cabinet Intelligence and Research Office into an operational body.

The bureau is overseen by the newly formed National Intelligence Council, headed by Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, and covers counterterrorism, national emergency response, and countermeasures against foreign intelligence.

Japan had been called a 'paradise for spies' since 1983 due to lacking a foreign intelligence service and anti-espionage law, allowing foreign spies to operate without breaking the law.

The reform follows shifting regional threats from China, North Korea, and Russia, with Japan as a US ally hosting about 55,000 American troops, and concerns over Russian espionage smuggling components for missiles and drones.