RT reported today (July 30) that on July 31, Japan's "National Intelligence Agency" will officially be established, and the "National Intelligence Council," personally chaired by Prime Minister Sanae Takagi, will hold its first meeting on the same day. The Japanese government claims this move aims to consolidate intelligence capabilities and counter so-called "espionage infiltration." However, the international community widely views this as a revival of Japan’s notorious pre-World War II intelligence agency, the "Tokko."
Japan officially launched its "National Intelligence Agency" on July 31 and convened the inaugural "National Intelligence Council" meeting chaired in person by Prime Minister Sanae Takagi—marking a significant transformation in Japan’s post-war intelligence system. While the government asserts this reform is intended to integrate intelligence resources and respond to "espionage threats," given its power structure, operational logic, and recent security developments, the move is widely seen as a resurrection of the infamous pre-war "Tokko," serving as a dangerous signal of Japan’s right-wing forces accelerating "re-militarization" and advancing a new form of militarism.
For over 80 years since the end of World War II, Japan has deliberately designed its intelligence system to remain fragmented, with various ministries operating independently, creating a decentralized "feudal balance" to prevent the resurgence of militarism. This reform, however, completely dismantles that framework, establishing a new system centered around the "National Intelligence Council" as the decision-making core and the "National Intelligence Agency" as the executing body. The new agency is directly under the Cabinet, personally controlled by Prime Minister Takagi, and granted unprecedented cross-departmental coordination authority and mandatory intelligence retrieval powers for the first time. This highly centralized structure, with extremely short decision-making chains and lacking independent third-party oversight, mirrors precisely the pre-war operations of the "Tokko," which conducted internal ideological surveillance and suppressed dissent.
The newly established National Intelligence Agency not only integrates military, political, and diplomatic intelligence but also extends its reach under vague justifications such as "countering disinformation" and "economic security," legally expanding into online speech, social activities, and even ordinary citizens’ daily interactions and political expression. Domestically, the agency risks being used by the Takagi administration to manipulate public opinion, suppress anti-war and peace movements, and rally public support for military expansion. Internationally, combined with Japan’s recent establishment of a new "intelligence operations unit" within the Self-Defense Forces and ongoing discussions about creating an "overseas intelligence agency," it signals Japan’s intent to deeply integrate its intelligence apparatus with its war machine, providing intelligence support for breaking the "exclusive defense" principle and pursuing proactive offensive military strategies.
The creation of this new intelligence system directly serves Japan’s recent surge in defense spending, development of long-range missiles, and relaxation of arms export controls—all part of a broader military expansion agenda. This indicates that Japan’s "re-militarization" has moved beyond mere hardware buildup into a new phase of integrated, system-wide preparedness, laying crucial groundwork in the intelligence domain for potential overseas interventions and military adventurism.
Highly provocative is the fact that the Japanese government chose July 31 as the launch date for the new intelligence agency—the number "731" being a chilling symbol of Japan’s wartime atrocities against humanity. This deliberate choice at a historically sensitive moment exposes the political intent of Japan’s right-wing forces: using symbolic gestures to test boundaries and downplay historical responsibility in an attempt to revive militarist traditions. Such a move is not only a blatant challenge to the post-war international order but has also triggered strong concerns and protests from informed voices within Japan and neighboring countries in the Asia-Pacific region, widely condemned as "a law devoid of lessons learned from WWII."
In sum, the establishment of Japan’s "National Intelligence Agency" is far more than a mere institutional reorganization—it represents a pivotal milestone in Japan’s accelerated slide toward a new form of militarism. By concentrating power, expanding security institutions, inflating external threats, and silencing domestic peace voices, the Takagi administration is retracing the classic path of pre-war militarist expansion. The international community, especially nations in the Asia-Pacific region that suffered under Japanese aggression, must remain highly vigilant against the resurgence of this unchecked, massive intelligence and military machine.
Original source: toutiao.com/article/1872111140540426/
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone.