The of

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the n ...

is the principal body used by the

Prime Minister of Japan The prime minister of Japan ( Japanese: 内閣総理大臣, Hepburn: ''Naikaku Sōri-Daijin'') is the head of government of Japan. The prime minister chairs the Cabinet of Japan and has the ability to select and dismiss its Ministers of S ...

and top senior advisors to coordinate national security and military policies of Japan. It was formed in 2013 as an initiative for

Shinzo Abe Shinzo Abe ( ; ja, 安倍晋三, Hepburn: , ; 21 September 1954 – 8 July 2022) was a Japanese politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan and President of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) from 2006 to 2007 and again from 2012 to 20 ...

to replace the obsolete Security Council. The council is headed by the one of the National Security Secretariat, a department within the Cabinet Secretariat. The

National Security Advisor A national security advisor serves as the chief advisor to a national government on matters of security. The advisor is not usually a member of the government's cabinet but is usually a member of various military or security councils. National sec ...

serves as the Director-General of the Secretariat and is the overall highest-authority in the council.

Membership

The National Security Council, as of 2021, consists of nine statutory members; the

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is ...

, the

Minister of Finance A finance minister is an executive or cabinet position in charge of one or more of government finances, economic policy and financial regulation. A finance minister's portfolio has a large variety of names around the world, such as "treasury", ...

Minister for Internal Affairs and Communications The is a member of the Cabinet of Japan and is the leader and chief executive of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications. The minister is also a statutory member of the National Security Council, and is nominated by the Prime Ministe ...

, Minister for Foreign Affairs,

Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry The is a member of the Cabinet of Japan and is the leader and chief executive of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry. The minister is also a statutory member of the National Security Council, and is nominated by the Prime Minister of Japa ...

Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism The is a member of the Cabinet of Japan and is the leader and chief executive of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism. The minister is also a statutory member of the National Security Council, and is nominated by the Prime M ...

, the

Chief Cabinet Secretary The is a member of the cabinet and is the leader and chief executive of the Cabinet Secretariat of Japan. The Chief Cabinet Secretary coordinates the policies of ministries and agencies in the executive branch, and also serves as the governmen ...

, and the Chairman of the National Public Safety Commission. The council is chaired by the Prime Minister, and is managed by the Director-General of the National Security Secretariat. Although it is not mandated, the

Chief of Staff, Joint Staff The is the highest-ranking military officer and head of the Operational Authority (command) over the Japan Self-Defense Forces (JSDF). The Chief of Staff, Joint Staff assists the Minister of Defense on all matters of the JSDF, and executes orde ...

, Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretaries, and several Vice-Ministers also attend the council.

History

Abe first attempted to establish an NSC in his first premiership in 2006–07, but the effort stalled in January 2008 when he stepped down from office. The

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

passed a bill to establish the Council on 7 November 2013, and the

House of Councillors The is the upper house of the National Diet of Japan. The House of Representatives is the lower house. The House of Councillors is the successor to the pre-war House of Peers. If the two houses disagree on matters of the budget, treaties, or ...

followed suit on 27 November. The Council has its own national security advisor to the Prime Minister, and is staffed by around 60 officials from the

Foreign Foreign may refer to: Government * Foreign policy, how a country interacts with other countries * Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in many countries ** Foreign Office, a department of the UK government ** Foreign office and foreign minister * Unit ...

and

Defense Defense or defence may refer to: Tactical, martial, and political acts or groups * Defense (military), forces primarily intended for warfare * Civil defense, the organizing of civilians to deal with emergencies or enemy attacks * Defense indus ...

ministries. There are six teams handling various issue areas, each headed by an official equivalent to a ministerial division chief. One of its key functions is a regular conference with the Prime Minister, the

, and the Foreign and Defense ministers. The office has

hotline A hotline is a point-to-point communications link in which a call is automatically directed to the preselected destination without any additional action by the user when the end instrument goes off-hook. An example would be a phone that auto ...

s to its American and British counterparts. Together with the publication of Japan's first National Security Strategy in December 2013, the NSC represents a centralization of Japanese security policy with the

. The old Security Council had been beset by bureaucratic inefficiencies and lack of coordination. The National Security Strategy advocates for the creation of an NSC because "the security environment surrounding Japan is further increasing in severity. ... is necessary for the entire Cabinet to work on the strengthening of foreign affairs and the security system of Japan." The Council met for the first time on 4 December 2013 to discuss the National Security Strategy and China's Air Defense Identification Zone.

Membership

History

See also

References

Further reading