Cabinet Secretariat (Japan)

The Japanese Cabinet Secretariat (Japanese内阁 官 房, naikaku Kambo ) is an agency of the central government, which takes over the joint press and public relations work of the Cabinet and acts as coordinator of ministries. In addition, the Cabinet Secretariat organizes the activities of the Security Council. The Chief Cabinet Secretary (内阁 官 房 长官, naikaku Kambo Chokan; German also: Chief Cabinet Secretary, Chief Secretary of the Cabinet, Government Spokesman) is a minister in the Japanese Cabinet.

In its present form the Cabinet Secretariat in 1947 was created after the post-war constitution as a successor to the 1879 furnished naikaku shokikan (内阁 书记 官). Until 1966, the Chief Cabinet Secretary was not necessarily a minister and member of the Cabinet. But he was already in 1963 as the Minister, a position that was formally dependent upon the appointment by the Tennō (认证 官, ninshōkan ).

In the cabinet Shinzō Abe II since 2012 Yoshihide Suga Chief Cabinet Secretary.

• 2.1 Kokka Senryaku - shitsu

Political significance of Chief Cabinet Secretary

Since 1947, the Office of the Chief Cabinet Secretary is considered one of the most important items in the cabinet and is a possible step on the way to the premiership. Eight prime minister of the postwar period ( Satō, Ohira, Suzuki, Takeshita, Miyazawa, Obuchi, Abe, Fukuda ) were ahead of their term of office, Chief Cabinet Secretary.

The Chief Cabinet Secretary is the central figure in the everyday public image of the government: On sitting days of Kokkai he is available to journalists at least twice to answer questions, and he represents the government positions on all policies. He also plays an important role in balancing the various interests within the ruling party and the government bureaucracy. Mostly he belongs to the same faction as the Prime Minister, to ensure a loyal and trusting cooperation.

The post is due to its importance as the " Right Hand " (女 房 役, nyōbōyaku; literally "Wife - Office") of the Prime Minister referred.

Shadow budget

The Chief Cabinet Secretary also has a shadow budget, popularly known as " secret funds " (机密 费, kimitsuhi ) called officially as " compensation fund of the Cabinet Secretariat " (内阁 官 房 报偿 费, naikaku Kambo Hosho -hi ). The exact purpose of the means employed therein - estimated in the fiscal year 2009, with approximately 1.4 billion yen - is not publicly known. However, it was indicated several times, which was also used for party political objectives " secret funds ", which led to severe criticism of the opposition. After the loss of power for many years ruling LDP in 2009, the new government declared that the use of the funds could still not be made public as well. The fund will be used to gather important information for the government.

Departments

The Chief Cabinet Secretary under three deputy Cabinet Secretaries (内阁 官 房 副 长官, naikaku Kambo fuku - Chokan, . Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary eng off ). Most tasks of the Cabinet Secretariat will (内阁 官 房 副 长官 补, naikaku Kambo fukuchōkan -ho; Assistant Chief Cabinet Secretary ) under the leadership of one of the three " Assistant Deputy Cabinet Secretaries " perceived. Three departments are organized separately and are subject to their own directors to the representatives:

• The Naikaku - Koho ​​- shitsu (内阁 広 报 室; " PR office of the Cabinet "; Cabinet Public Relations Office ) to assist the Chief Cabinet Secretary and his deputy in public relations.
• The Naikaku Joho Chōsashitsu (内阁 情报 调查 室; "Office of the Cabinet for education and testing "; Cabinet Intelligence and Research Office ) perform intelligence tasks for the Cabinet. This includes the Naikaku Eisei Joho center (内閣 衛星 情報 センター; Cabinet Satellite Intelligence Center ), which is responsible for satellite intelligence about disasters and threats to national security.
• The Naikaku - sōmukan - shitsu (内阁 総 务 官 室; "Office of the Secretary of General Affairs of the Cabinet " Cabinet Affairs Office ), inter alia for the Kantei, responsible to the Prime Minister's Office.

Kokka Senryaku - shitsu

The government takeover of 2009, the Democratic Party announced the establishment of " Office for National Strategy " (国家 戦 略 局, kokka Senryaku - kyoku ), which independently in particular the development of the budget, but also other policies centrally and control of the elected government of should control the ministries, in order to strengthen the primacy of politics over the ministerial bureaucracy. A corresponding law setting was introduced in Parliament. When a Cabinet Office was immediately after the change of government "Department of National Strategy " (国家 戦 略 室, kokka Senryaku - shitsu; , English National Policy Unit. ), Furnished. In the cabinet a "Minister of National Strategy " ( kokka Senryaku Tanto daijin ) was designated. Since 2011 there is also a "Conference of National Strategy " ( kokka Senryaku - kaigi ), chaired by the Prime Minister.

Special Adviser to the Prime Minister

Formally, the Cabinet Secretariat are also the maximum of five Special Adviser to the Prime Minister (内阁 総 理 大臣 补 佐 官, naikaku Sori - daijin hosakan ) assigned, even though they are not under the Chief Cabinet Secretary.