## Article: Establishment of the Center of Collection and Analysis of Intelligence

In anticipation of four years from now when the 2020 Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games will be held in Japan, the Immigration Bureau is expected to achieve smooth and prompt landing examinations to handle the surge in the number of foreign nationals entering Japan, to implement strict measures to prevent the entry of individuals who pose a high risk in terms of immigration control (high-risk individuals) such as terrorists, illegal residents and imposter residents, and to deal stringently with the illegal residents and imposter residents.

The entire government outlined in the “Strategy to Make ‘Japan the Safest Country in the World’” (approved by the Cabinet on December 10, 2013) reinforcement of the intelligence functions relating to immigration control, and through enhancement of the intelligence functions of the Immigration Bureau, the realization of a society where Japanese nationals and foreign nationals are able to co-exist harmoniously through the fostering of an environment where Japanese nationals and foreign nationals are able to live together in Japan with a general sense of safety, and therefore, the “Center of Collection and Analysis of Intelligence” (hereinafter “Center”) was established in the Immigration Bureau of the Ministry of Justice on October 1, 2015 as a central agency for the purpose of reinforcing its intelligence functions, comprising immigration control information gathering and analysis.

The three main duties of the Center are categorized as: (i) information gathering, (ii) information analysis, and (iii) forensics.

The first duty of information gathering involves working on increasing the quantity and quality of information kept by the Center by collecting information from the relevant organizations in Japan and other countries pertaining to high-risk individuals, etc. and building frameworks on information-sharing with the relevant organizations in Japan and other countries.

The second duty of information analysis involves identifying and categorizing high-risk individuals, etc. through comprehensive and sophisticated analysis of the information by officers with specialized knowledge, and aims to achieve effective and accurate examinations such as strict examinations of high-risk individuals by providing the results of the analyses to the regional immigration offices.

The third duty of forensics involves collecting information on forged and altered passports and other documents, and on the techniques used in fake fingerprints and collecting information on the latest technology trends relating to fingerprint forensics, and as a new initiative, promoting reinforcement of use of the facial image cross-checking functions in the landing examinations as one of the border measures in order to detect terrorists and other suspected persons without fail.

The reinforcement of the collection and analysis of immigration control information by the Center serves to maximize its functions, further carries out the “strengthening of the border measures”, “promotion of Japan as a tourism-oriented country” and “securing of a general sense of safety in Japan” and contributes to the safe hosting of the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2020.

The collection and analysis of information relating to terrorists and other suspected persons in collaboration with other relevant agencies including the police is vital when conducting border measures, and in the future, we will continue with our efforts to reinforce cooperation with them, and moreover, strengthen the immigration examination structure and promote further utilization of information, and also do our utmost to work on border measures in order to prevent terrorism before it happens.