Will Japan's new National Intelligence Council function properly?

Japan’s Cabinet approved a bill to create the National Intelligence Secretariat and Council, but unlike the U.S
intelligence model with independent oversight, placing the prime minister in charge risks conflicts that could undermine effectiveness
By Kuni Miyake
Contributing Writer
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Amid the chaos from the outbreak of the war in Iran, Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s Cabinet approved a bill on March 13 to establish the National Intelligence Secretariat and its central coordinating body — the National Intelligence Council.The former will be granted “comprehensive coordination authority” to consolidate intelligence currently dispersed across various ministries and agencies, while the latter — chaired by the prime minister — will formulate the “National Intelligence Strategy,” which serves as the mid- to long-term basic policy for intelligence.At first I was delighted with the news, thinking that a full-fledged external intelligence service was finally being established in Japan.

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