Editor's note: The author is Cai Liang, director and research fellow at the Center for Northeast Asian Studies, Shanghai Institutes for International Studies.

Japan on Friday officially launched its National Intelligence Bureau, aimed at enhancing the country's intelligence-gathering capabilities, marking a complete recasting of the decentralized intelligence landscape that Japan had maintained for over 80 years since the end of World War II. Japanese prime minister now holds supreme authority over intelligence coordination, and the intelligence capabilities of multiple government departments have been fully consolidated. This deep reform of the intelligence system is by no means an ordinary administrative "optimization"; it is a bureaucratic engine that is accelerating Japan's neo-militarism. Japan's security framework will become increasingly centralized and militarized, significantly elevating regional security risks.

Looking back at history, Japanese intelligence agencies inflicted immense suffering and committed horrific atrocities across Asia and beyond, leaving memories that remain vivid and chilling to this day. Whether it was the brutal repression and infiltration carried out by the Tokko (Special Higher Police) at home and abroad, or the savage aggression of the Kwantung Army – Japan's principal expeditionary force in northeast China, notorious for its brutal occupation and war crimes, or the blood-stained legacy of war criminals such as Hideki Tojo, who served as Japan's prime minister from 1941 to 1944, or the shadowy operations of Japan's spy agencies, all have become enduring symbols of Japanese militarism's expansionist aggression.

With the launch of its new centralized intelligence body, Japan has erected a two-tier intelligence architecture: the National Intelligence Council, chaired by the prime minister, is responsible for top-level policy decisions; the National Intelligence Bureau, established by expanding the former Cabinet Intelligence and Research Office, will have a staff of over 700 and integrate forces from the police, foreign affairs, defense and other ministries. It holds the authority to mandate intelligence coordination across all government departments and is headed by Kazuya Hara, who had served as director of Cabinet intelligence since June 2023 and held senior positions at the National Police Agency.

Postwar Japan relied on intelligence decentralization to achieve checks and balances on power. Now, the centralized model breaks that long-standing institutional design, and the concentration of power is highly likely to breed governance loopholes. A CGTN survey of 3,028 global respondents shows that 86.5% regard this as a major transformation of Japan's postwar intelligence system, while 77.7% believe it could lead to abuse of power and a lack of oversight and checks and balances.

In addition, Japan's intelligence system will become more deeply embedded in the US-led so-called "Indo-Pacific" intelligence alliance, coordinating overseas espionage, counterintelligence and cyber intelligence to proactively provide intelligence support for its Self-Defense Forces' so-called "counterstrike capabilities." In response, 83% of survey respondents express concern that this move will intensify regional intelligence rivalry and seriously undermine the already fragile security trust among regional countries. Furthermore, 87.6% see it as yet another step by Japan to break free from the postwar international order's constraints and accelerate its remilitarization, and the international community should remain highly vigilant against the increasingly dangerous trend of Japan's neo-militarism.

The establishment of the National Intelligence Bureau marks a turning point: Japan's long-simmering neo-militarism is now taking concrete institutional shape. This move also represents a deliberate effort to test the limits of the pacifist constitution and restore Japan's status as a significant military force. The postwar order was achieved at great cost. Neighboring countries and the international community must therefore remain vigilant, closely monitor any militarization of Japan's intelligence activities and protect the very foundation of peace and stability in East Asia.