Japanese Foreign Intelligence: Towards Normality?

Against the backdrop of rising regional uncertainties and domestic political changes, Japan has adopted a more robust security posture over the past two decades. These security policy reforms have also entailed a gradual enhancement of the Japan’s foreign intelligence-gathering capabilities and reorganisation of the country’s intelligence community. This presentation examines Japan’s intelligence reforms and addresses the extent to which they are reflective of the country’s incremental progress toward more realist-oriented security policies, a concomitant erosion of traditional antimilitaristic constraints and a generally broader shift in national security strategy.