Japan¡¯s Upper House passed a bill Wednesday aimed at centralizing and strengthening the country¡¯s intelligence coordination apparatus. Yet the debate surrounding the National Intelligence Council Law revealed less about Japan¡¯s intelligence system than the current contours of the country¡¯s new political reality.
Last month, opposition parties appeared primed to turn the issue into a political football. That never happened.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi¡¯s consistent polling numbers and voting in parliament indicated a lack of resistance against her administration¡¯s agenda ¡ª and even fissures among some of her chief political opponents.
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