Defense Intelligence Headquarters

The Defense Intelligence Headquarters (情報本部, Jōhōhonbu)[1] is a military intelligence and signal intelligence agency of the Japanese government, under the jurisdiction of the Japanese Ministry of Defense. It is currently one of the biggest Japanese intelligence agencies,[2] with its creation and structure modeled after the American Defense Intelligence Agency.[3]

Defense Intelligence Headquarters
DIH
情報本部
Jōhōhonbu
Official seal of the Defense Intelligence Headquarters
Agency overview
FormedJanuary 20, 1997 (1997-01-20)
Preceding agency
  • 2nd Staff Office, Joint Staff Council
JurisdictionJapan
HeadquartersIchigaya, Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan
Employees2,451 personnel (2012)
Annual budget¥ 52.8 billion (2010)
Parent agencyMinistry of Defense
WebsiteOfficial Site (in Japanese)

History
DIH facilities in Japan

Back in the 1980s, the former Defense Agency had several intelligence divisions with different duties. Among these intelligence division in the Defense Agency had included those from the Central Data Command Unit, the Joint Staff Council's Second Office and the three branches of the Japan Self-Defense Forces (JSDF).[4] Most of the DID's establishment was based on the Second Investigation Bureau of the JGSDF.[5] They were involved in intercepting communications that led to and after the shooting of Korean Air Lines Flight 007.[5]

A supposed plan to integrate the intelligence divisions of the three JSDF branches started in 1988 before lack of cooperation and subordination ended it.[4]

Plans to consolidate all the intelligence bureaus of the old Defense Administration into one agency had started in the 1990s[6] after the National Diet had passed a law on May 1996, calling for the creation of a central military intelligence agency before the DIH was eventually established on January 20, 1997[3][7] after intelligence units from the JSDF, Japanese Defense Agency and the Joint Staff council are united[8] with the appointment of Lieutenant General Kunimi Masahiro as the agency's first commanding officer.[2] Initially, DIH civilian and military staff members were numbered at 1,580[7] with a planned manpower of 2,000 personnel[9] before it reached its current manpower of 2,300 staff members.[10] In 2011, the manpower is 1,907 members[11]

Spy satellites had been planned for launch in 1998 as part of augmenting the DIH's intelligence gathering capabilities. Though two were able to launch into space, two more were destroyed in a botch attempt to send them to space.[12]

In 2005, the DIH has suffered its first internal leak of classified information when a Colonel in the JASDF had been arrested for allegedly leaking information regarding the accident of a People's Liberation Army Navy Submarine that took place in the same year in the South China Sea[13]

The DIH had announced in 2006 that a liaison office was established in Washington, D.C. with the National Security Agency.[14]

Known activities

Command

The DIH is under the jurisdiction of the Joint Staff and is controlled by the Defense Intelligence Committee, which is made up of the Chiefs of Staff of the JGSDF, JMSDF and JASDF along with the Chief of Staff, Joint Staff, State Minister of Defense and the Minister of Defense.[18][19]

Command of the DIH was given directly to the Japanese Minister of Defense on March 2006.[10] The deputy officer is usually a civilian officially appointed by the MOD.[20] Four Defense Intelligence Officers (DIOs) are also appointed with three being colonels from the JGSDF or the JASDF with one a civilian official.[20]

The SIGINT facilities managed by the Chobetsu (Chosa Besshitsu) or the Annex Chamber, Second Section, Second Investigation Division in English, from 1958 to 1997 is managed by the DIH.[21] Command of the SIGINT division is usually filled by a senior officer from the NPA.[22]

Organization

A number of divisions were established under the DIH, including the following:[19][23]

Directorate Mandate
Directorate for Administration Provides administrative and logistics support
Directorate for Programs Conducts and plans DIH’s intelligence collection/analysis plans. Serves as the point of contact when coordinating work with intelligence agencies in and out of the MOD.
Directorate for Geospatial Intelligence Analyzes satellite images bought from commercial satellites or from the JGSDF's Central Geographical Command located in Tachikawa, Tokyo
Directorate for Signal Intelligence Analyzes SIGINT intelligence. Is responsible for its electronics unit in Ichigaya to monitor North Korea-based communications. It also manages two CDAA 'elephant cages,' as well as six other communications offices. They are located in Kobunato, Niigata Prefecture, Oi, Saitama Prefecture, Tachiarai, Fukushima Prefecture and Kikaijima, Kagoshima Prefecture.
Directorate for Assessment Summarizes/assesses intelligence from Japanese military attachés serving abroad, intelligence from friendly nations and from DIH collaborators and agents
Directorate for Joint Intelligence Collect and analyse intelligence which is needed to cope with immediately, and support Chief of JSO and SDFs directly. This division is a part of DIH, but also is expected to be used as J-2 of JSO.

Role

The main role of the DIH is to collect information and analyse for planning defense and operation policy. The agency collect information from open sources, signals and image intelligence as well as from other Japanese government ministries, Japanese embassies and other affiliated ministries and organizations.[10][23] In addition, they also gather intelligence through surveillance activities.[24]

Seal

The seal of the DIH consist of the following symbols:

Known DIH directors

DIH directors are usually positioned by a Lieutenant General from the JGSDF/JASDF or a Vice Admiral from the JMSDF.

  • Fumio Ota[26]
  • Kenichiro Hokazono; the former Chief of Air Staff
  • Koji Shimohira
  • Tadashi Miyagawa (宮川正)

References
  1. 部局課名・官職名英訳名称一覧 Names of Government Organizations and Positions Retrieved on June 9, 2008.
  2. Japan's Growing Intelligence Capabilities, Andrew Oros. Archived 2009-03-20 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved on June 9, 2008.
  3. https://web.archive.org/web/20190523120653/https://nautilus.org/napsnet/napsnet-daily-report/napsnet-daily-report-24-january-1997/
  4. https://web.archive.org/web/20200111105700/https://www.globalsecurity.org/intell/world/japan/dih.htm
  5. Davis and Gustafson, page. 184.
  6. Japan, Intelligence and Security. Retrieved on June 9, 2008.
  7. Defence Intelligence Headquarters. Retrieved on June 9, 2008.
  8. https://web.archive.org/web/20041108015922/http://www.hamline.edu/apakabar/basisdata/1997/03/21/0017.html
  9. Press Conference by the Press Secretary. Retrieved on June 9, 2008.
  10. Ministry of Defense White Paper, 2006. Chapter 3: Operations of Self-Defense Forces for Defense of Japan, Disaster Relief and Civil Protection. Retrieved on June 9, 2008.
  11. Defense Programs and Budget of Japan Overview of FY2012 Budget Request, p. 26
  12. https://web.archive.org/web/20091013080104/http://nautilus.rmit.edu.au/publications/japanese-militarization.html
  13. https://web.archive.org/web/20160410173058/http://www.japantimes.co.jp/opinion/2008/04/07/editorials/the-secrets-of-the-sea/
  14. Japan to set up liaison office in Washington. Retrieved on June 16, 2008.
  15. Section 2. Response of the Defense Agency to the Missile Launch by North Korea. Retrieved on June 16, 2008.
  16. Japan’s Secret SIGINT Organizations: Focusing On North Korea. Archived 2008-03-17 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved on June 15, 2008.
  17. Gallagher, Ryan (May 19, 2018). "The Untold Story of Japan's Secret Spy Agency". Archived from the original on May 21, 2018.
  18. https://web.archive.org/web/20181005154101/http://www.mod.go.jp/dih/gaiyou.html
  19. "Japan Primer". University of Texas. 2007. Archived from the original on 2008-06-25. Retrieved 2007-10-06. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  20. https://www.stimson.org/sites/default/files/file-attachments/Tatsumi_%20Japan%27s_Security_Policy_Infrastructure_Final_Version.pdf
  21. https://web.archive.org/web/20181006022253/https://nautilus.org/napsnet/napsnet-special-reports/japans-signals-intelligence-sigint-ground-stations-a-visual-guide/
  22. Dover, Goodman and Hillebrand, page 203
  23. https://web.archive.org/web/20090418165548/http://www.mod.go.jp/dih/gaiyou.html
  24. White Paper, 2007. Part II: The Basic of Japan's Defense Policy. Section 3: Organization of the MOD/SDF. Retrieved on June 9, 2008.
  25. https://web.archive.org/web/20070714144058/http://www.mod.go.jp/dih/symbol.html
  26. https://web.archive.org/web/20160305075112/http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/uniontrib/20071216/news_1n16missile.html

Bibliography
  • Davies, Philip H.J.; Gustafson, Kristian, eds. (2013). Intelligence Elsewhere: Spies and Espionage Outside the Anglosphere. Georgetown University Press. ISBN 978-1589019560.
  • Dover, Robert; Goodman, Michael S.; Hillebrand, Claudia, eds. (2014). Routledge Companion to Intelligence Studies. New York: Routledge. ISBN 978-1589019560.
  • Samuels, Richard J. (2019). Special Duty: A History of the Japanese Intelligence Community. Cornell University Press. ISBN 978-1501741586.
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