Among various national organizations, the Cabinet Secretariat is probably the most mysterious and difficult for the public to understand. Even Diet members and bureaucrats find it hard to explain. A lesser-known entity is the government's "president's office," which holds the key to realizing major policies launched by the administration.
All 39 branches of this office -- actually the assistant chief cabinet secretary's office -- bear the names of key policies of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's administration. Among them are the office of the Novel Coronavirus Response Headquarters; the Social Security System Oriented to All Generations office; and the Realization of Work Style Reform office.
These branches cover the affairs of liaison teams from several ministries and agencies, as well as issues that have been left untouched for a variety of reasons.
Politicians and bureaucrats refer to the assistant chief cabinet secretary's office as "Hoshitsu." Its role is to nag inert ministries and agencies to work on policies that politicians rather than bureaucrats take the initiative on, and also deal with situations that go beyond individual ministries. It is similar to that of a private company's "president's office," which supports the president and carries out important projects.
The Hoshitsu is headed by two assistant chief cabinet secretaries in charge of domestic and foreign affairs and comprises about 730 officials, including councillors and advisers.
In addition to branches of the Hoshitsu, Cabinet Secretariat offices administer a wide range of affairs. These offices include the "Jitaishitsu," which is led by an assistant chief cabinet secretary in charge of emergency and crisis management in such contingencies as natural disasters and North Korea.
There is also the National Security Secretariat (NSS), which is a command center for foreign and security policies; the Cabinet Intelligence and Research Office, which gathers and analyzes domestic and international intelligence; and the Cabinet Affairs Office, which operates Cabinet meetings and discusses the Imperial succession.
The Cabinet Affairs Office was in charge of cherry blossom-viewing parties organized by the prime minister, a topic currently under the scrutiny of opposition parties. Due to its direct link with political leadership, the Cabinet Secretariat is often embroiled in political turmoil.
When a series of typhoons produced a large amount of waste last autumn, the type of waste determined which ministry handled the matter. For instance, the Environment Ministry deals with disaster waste; the Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Ministry handles mud and dirt; and the Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Ministry deals with paddy straw. People on the front line urged the government to handle the matter flexibly, and the Cabinet Secretariat, in cooperation with those ministries, made it possible to treat paddy straw as disaster waste so it could be disposed of collectively.
-- 'Listen to us'
The Cabinet Secretariat boasts the power of "general coordination."
The word "coordination" gives the impression that two sides are discussing a matter on equal footing, but the reality is that the Cabinet Secretariat has the power to pressure each ministry and agency with a "Listen to us" attitude.
There are almost no officials in the secretariat who have built their careers from scratch within it; most of them are assigned for one or two years from ministries and agencies. If the Cabinet isn't strong enough, the Cabinet Secretariat's general coordination may not be followed by ministries and agencies if it's inconvenient.
"Bureaucrats won't make a move if they think a prime minister and his retinue will soon change. They try to support ministers instead of the Cabinet as a whole, only for the sake of their own promotion," said a former assistant chief cabinet secretary.
When the Democratic Party of Japan was in power, some bureaucrats in the Cabinet Secretariat who tried to exercise general coordination received a phone call from the ministry or agency they belonged to in which they were told, "You won't be able to come back," the former official said.
The Cabinet Secretariat has been more powerful since the second Abe administration, which gave him the longest tenure of any prime minister. Director generals of ministries and agencies are summoned by senior Cabinet Secretariat officials to coordinate policies, which are accepted in most cases whenever they are told, "The Prime Minister is serious about this policy."
The establishment of the Cabinet Bureau of Personnel Affairs has made it possible for a prime minister to have his wishes reflected over the personnel management of senior ministry officials, and that also spurred the Cabinet Secretariat to obtain power.
An official in the Cabinet Secretariat said, "Under the Abe administration, ministries and agencies have taken the initiative, and political leadership has matured." However, despite the lineup of such signature offices as the "promotion office" launched by the current long-term administration, they are said to have no practical effect in reality because personnel in the actual working units often handle affairs simultaneously.
The Cabinet Secretariat has become bloated, and senior officials known as "bureaucrats working in the Prime Minister's Office for more than two years" have become influential, evoking envy from ministries and agencies.
-- Shigematsu is in the Political News Department and in charge of the Prime Minister's Office.
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