On 20 November 2024, Japan hosted a gathering of senior enlisted members from the Five Eyes intelligence partnership in Tokyo. It was for the first time a non-member state did so, in a move that highlights the growing cooperation between Tokyo and its Western allies amid shared concerns about a rapidly deteriorating international security environment. The Five Eyes grouping comprises of the United States, Britain, Canada, Australia and New Zealand and the meeting was a part of a broader conference among senior enlisted personnel from across the Self Defense Forces.

The objective of Japan hosting the meeting was to have a greater understanding of the situation and achieve its goal of promoting Tokyo’s vision of a Free and Open Indo-Pacific. It was for the first time such a meeting took place outside a Five Eyes country. Japan was however involved earlier in such a gathering when the SDF personnel were invited to a similar conference of Canadian senior enlisted members in October 2024. Such gatherings are important as personnel at this level perform key duties, including providing critical advice to commanders.

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Personnel sit together, compare notes, and realise that all face the same challenges, and thus create interoperability with partners and like-minded nations. The aim is to improve information-sharing networks. What adds significance to the Tokyo gathering is that Japan has long stated its interest in becoming the sixth member of the intelligence partnership. What drives Tokyo to show invigorated interest is because of a growing threat from China’s growing military and cyber capabilities. Japan’s threat perception stems from its vulnerabilities and standing on the frontline strategic challenges facing the region and thus it feels that by comparing notes with like-minded countries, they can mutually benefit. The Five Eyes members recognise Japan can offer the intelligence grouping the use of its information gathering capabilities, particularly in the field of electronic surveillance, along with its insights into Asian geopolitics.

As the threat perceptions continue to grow over the Taiwan Strait and South China Sea, there are increasing calls for the United States and Japan to increase intelligence sharing to better prepare for the possibility of a regional conflict. The on-going Ukraine crisis is another driver where a collective intelligence response has become a necessity. Indeed, the rise of an assertive China in the Indo-Pacific provides a growing rationale for Tokyo’s accession to the group. Japan’s inclusion would therefore be a “logical progression,” considering the already existing intelligence-sharing apparatus Tokyo has with Australia, France, Britain, and the U.S., and the on-going negotiations with Canada on an information-sharing pact.

If Japan formally joins the Five Eyes group, Tokyo would have to adopt several Five Eyes standards in terms of personnel clearance and vetting, information classification and information sharing. It would also have to convince the other members that its domestic counter-intelligence measures and new legislation can sufficiently protect state secrets. Tokyo has already made important strides in this direction. It has pledged to beef up its cyber-defences and introduce a bill in parliament that would craft a new security clearance system. However, the government is expected to postpone submission of such a bill until next year, as introducing legislation at this time for an “active cyber-defense” system allowing for pre-emptive actions against cyber-attacks, after the Liberal Democratic Party-led bloc’s dismal performance in the Lower House election, which clipped Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba’s political capital, may be difficult.

The main trigger for Japan to think of joining the Five Eyes intelligence-sharing alliance is China’s muscle-flexing activities, which is stoking tensions in the region. What is the Five Eyes and what are the benefits and risks of bringing Japan on board? It started as an intelligence exchange agreement between the US and Britain in 1943 and formally became the UKUSA Agreement in 1946. The agreement was then extended to Canada in 1948, and Australia and New Zealand in 1956. This long-running collaboration has been particularly useful for sharing signal intelligence, or intelligence gathered from communications and information systems. The group’s focus has shifted over time, from targeting the USSR during the Cold War, to Islamist terrorism after the September 11 attacks in 2001, to the rising challenge from China today.

Why has Japan shown interest in joining the Five Eyes alliance? It is relevant to note that Japan has a history of having a robust intelligence infrastructure in place. Japan has a significant intelligence tradition. After the Meiji Restoration of 1868, the imperial Japanese army and navy, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs developed extensive intelligence networks. These aided the rise of the Japanese empire in its wars against China, Russia and eventually the Western allies in World War II. After the war, Japan’s intelligence services were revamped by the Occupation forces. Japan has since been an important base of operations for US intelligence operations in Asia, particularly by military intelligence, the CIA and the National Security Agency.

The Japanese intelligence community now comprises a range of services, including the Ministry of Defence’s Directorate for Signals Intelligence, which provides expertise in regional signals intelligence. Given Japan’s proximity to China, North Korea, and Russia, Japan may well be an attractive addition to the Five Eyes alliance. Besides its long-running collaboration with the US, Japan signed an Information Security Agreement with Australia in 2012. At the end of 2016, the US, Japan and Australia signed a similar trilateral agreement deepening the extent of covert security cooperation. Despite the fact that the Five Eyes group often cooperated with the intelligence services of Japan on an ad hoc basis, there had so far been reluctance among the Five Eyes members to formally broaden the alliance.

The US felt that Japan lacked overseas experience and therefore had doubts about the security and reliability of the Japanese intelligence community. In 2013, the Shinzo Abe government passed a controversial Designated State Secrets Law to reduce these vulnerabilities and present Japan as a more valuable security partner. The ensuing revamp of the intelligence services, under firmer central direction of a National Security Council, has reformed Japan’s capabilities to some extent. It is a question of time that Japan joins the Five Eyes as the sixth member.

(The writer is former Senior Fellow at MP-IDSA and PMML, New Delhi. He is also former ICCR Chair Professor at Reitaku University, Japan)