The Cabinet Intelligence and Research Office (内閣情報調査室), also known as Naichō (内調), is a Japanese intelligence agency under the Cabinet Secretariat responsible for gathering, processing, and analyzing national security information for the cabinet. As a principal member of the Japanese intelligence community, the CIRO reports directly to the Prime Minister. Its operations are mandated through the Cabinet Law. The agency is said to be equivalent to the American Central Intelligence Agency. Like most intelligence agencies in Japan, its personnel are usually recruited from other agencies. Around 100 out of 170 CIRO agents are from other agencies/ministries with top positions occupied by career police officers. The CIRO frequently works with the National Security Council as a communication channel to the prime minister. The CIRO is headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo, in a building called "H20".

History

The CIRO was created by the Allied Forces through the formation of the Prime Ministers's Research Office (内閣総理大臣官房調査室) in April 1952 with Jun Murai as the first director in an attempt to replicate its structure after the CIA. But due to widespread opposition and the factionalism in the bureaucracy, this plan was discarded. The RO was placed under jurisdiction of the Prime Minister's office in 1957 and was known as the Cabinet Research Office (内閣調査室). The CRO was later renamed as the CIRO in 1986. The Cabinet Intensive Information Center was established on April 11, 1996 to ensure that the CIRO can inform the Prime Minister in case of severe emergencies. It's located in the Prime Minister's residence. In August 2007, discussions of intelligence reforms through the paper Improvement of Counter-Intelligence Functions resulted in the establishment of the Counterintelligence Center. It's been suggested that the CIC can be used as the basis for the creation of an actual external intelligence agency similar to the CIA. In 2013, CIRO satellite imagery analysis was used to assist NGOs in Tacloban for reconstruction work in the wake of Typhoon Haiyan. Since 2015, CIRO agents are usually recruited to be sent to the International Counter-Terrorism Intelligence Collection Unit. In 2016, the business magazine Facta reported that the government of Shinzo Abe had directed the CIRO to spy on a legal council connected to David Kaye, who as U.N. special rapporteur on freedom of expression stated "deep and genuine concern" on declining media independence in Japan. On January 12, 2024, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and Cabinet Satellite Intelligence Center announced that the launch of the Optical-8 satellite was a success, which separated from the missile and has entered orbit.

Spy scandal

On January 17, 2008, an official of Naichō was charged for spying for Russians, passing them classified information. The Russians denied the claim. Since then, there had been calls for greater accountability on Naichō.

Organization

According to its official web site, the organization of Naichō is as follows:

Directors of Naichō