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 north ...

was the nine-person

national security council A national security council (NSC) is usually an executive branch governmental body responsible for coordinating policy on national security issues and advising chief executives on matters related to national security. An NSC is often headed by a na ...

which advises 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 not ...

national security National security, or national defence, is the security and defence of a sovereign state, including its citizens, economy, and institutions, which is regarded as a duty of government. Originally conceived as protection against military atta ...

and the

military A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct ...

and deals with a wide spectrum of issues which indirectly affect Japan's broader interests, including basic national defense policy, the National Defense Program Outline, the outline on coordinating industrial production and other matters related to the National Defense Program Outline, including decisions on

diplomatic Diplomatics (in American English, and in most anglophone countries), or diplomatic (in British English), is a scholarly discipline centred on the critical analysis of documents: especially, historical documents. It focuses on the conventions, p ...

initiatives and defense operations. Like its predecessor, the National Defense Council, the SC had problems with its mandate, structure, secretariat and functions, but it was considered an improvement for its ability to coordinate with parts of the Japanese governments by conducting half a dozen meetings frequently.

History

It was created on July 1, 1986, to replace the NDC during Yasuhiro Nakasone's term as prime minister. The NDC acted as an advisory group on defense-related matters since 1956 and was plagued with shortcomings on managing daily defense issues and doing crisis management. Then Japanese National Security Advisor Yuriko Koike pointed out Japanese bureaucracy is an obstacle to have a robust security regime. In January 2007, it was reported that a new national security body would be set up to eventually replace the SC with the aim of speeding up decision making on national security matters. It was superseded by the Japanese National Security Council set up by Shinzo Abe in January 2014.

Membership

The Security Council was presided over by the Prime Minister and includes the Ministers of State who were specified in advance under Article 9 of the Cabinet Law; the

Foreign Minister A foreign affairs minister or minister of foreign affairs (less commonly minister for foreign affairs) is generally a cabinet minister in charge of a state's foreign policy and relations. The formal title of the top official varies between cou ...

, the Finance Minister, the Chief Cabinet Secretary, the Minister for Defense, the Chairman of the National Public Safety Commission, and the Director General of the Economic Planning Agency. The Chairman of the Security Council may invite the Chairman of the Joint Staff Council or another relevant State Minister or Official to attend meetings.

References

Cabinet of Japan

1986 establishments in Japan Defunct government agencies of Japan 2014 disestablishments in Japan {{Japan-gov-stub