Japan's Intelligence Reforms

Japan's significant intelligence reforms reveal how the country's approach to security is becoming more self-reliant and autonomous. But what is being proposed, and why now?

In this edition of Global Security Briefing, host Philip Shetler-Jones, Senior Research Fellow, Indo-Pacific Security at RUSI is joined by Ken Kotani, Professor at Nihon University, Japan and James DJ Brown, Professor of Political Science at Temple University, Japan Campus, to reflect on how Japan is rebuilding its national intelligence capability.

They explore the following core questions:

• Why is this important in terms of the history of the country?
• What are some of the obstacles?
• What does this reform tell us about how Japan is changing in terms of its self-perception and threat perception?
• What are the implications for Japan's relationships with allies and adversaries?