According to Nakasone, Japan's capability is poor both in terms of information gathering and assessment. Therefore, a centralized system is needed to bring together and control intelligence collectively. To meet that need, Nakasone has called for the establishment of an intelligence bureau within the Cabinet Office to be headed by someone with powers and authority comparable to those of the director-general of the Cabinet Legislation Bureau. That individual should not be a former bureaucrat because there is always the chance that he or she may not get the cooperation of other government offices, according to Nakasone. In the case of countries like Japan, which does not rely on military power as the mainstay of its foreign policy, information that could be key to preventing conflicts is the linchpin of security that could decide its fate.
Information is also important in advancing the Japan-U.S. alliance.
Nakasone expressed concern that unless Japan effectively controlled information that came its way, it could find itself at the mercy of the United States. There is also the danger that information could be manipulated and turned into disinformation. Japan cannot strengthen its policy coordination and strategic dialogue with the United States without improving its capability to control and assess information independently. Bureaucrats who keep information to themselves to protect their interests and expand the influence of the organizations to which they belong are just as much to blame as politicians who think they can prove their worth with their ability to acquire information. The information they handle is the product of painstaking daily work of government employees.