Shigeru Kitamura served as the Secretary General of the National Security Secretariat (NSS) and National Security Advisor to the Cabinet from September 2019, following his appointment as part of the reshuffle of the Fourth Abe Cabinet. In this role, he established the NSS’s economic section and promoted economic security policy. Since retiring from the position in July 2021, he has served as a member of an expert panel on economic security legislation. Earlier in his career, he also served as Director of Cabinet Intelligence, Executive Secretary to the Prime Minister, Chief of the Foreign Affairs Division of the Foreign Affairs and Intelligence Department of the Security Bureau, and First Secretary at the Embassy of Japan in France. In December 2020, he was awarded the Department of Defense Medal for Distinguished Public Service by the US Government. In January 2022, he was awarded the Australian Intelligence Medal by the Australian Government. In June 2022, he was awarded the Officier de l’Ordre de la Légion d’Honneur by the French Government. In December 2023, he was awarded the Order of Brilliant Star with Grand Cordon by the Taiwanese Government. His major publications include “Intelligence and the State”, “Economic Security”, “National Security and Intelligence”, (all Chuokoron-Shinsha), and “Secret Records of the Foreign Affairs Police” (Bungeishunju). He studied at France’s École nationale d’administration (ENA) in June 1983. He joined the National Police Agency in 1980 after graduating from the University of Tokyo, Faculty of Law.

Satoshi Maeda was appointed in August 2018 and served concurrently as Assistant Chief Cabinet Secretary, Deputy Secretary General of the National Security Secretariat, and Head of the National Center of Incident Readiness and Strategy for Cybersecurity. In 2021 he was appointed Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Qatar. Previously, he worked on national security policy for approximately four decades at various government ministries and agencies, including the Ministry of Defense, Cabinet Secretariat, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, and National Police Agency. Notably, he served as Director-General of the Defense Policy Bureau, Executive Secretary to the Prime Minister, Director of Public Affairs at the Ministry of Defense, Director of the Administrative Coordination Division at the Ministry of Defense, Counselor at the Security Bureau of the National Policy Agency, and as First Secretary for National Security at the Japanese Embassy in the United States. He joined the Defense Agency (now the Ministry of Defense) in 1983 after graduating from the University of Tokyo, Faculty of Law. He retired from civil service in December 2024.

Toshihiko Fujii served as Councillor for the National Security Secretariat (NSS) of the Cabinet Secretariat upon his appointment in October 2019. During his tenure, he served as the inaugural head of the economic section of the NSS, where he played a key role in the formulation of the Economic Security Promotion Act. Earlier in his career, he served as Deputy Commissioner for the Acquisition, Technology and Logistics Agency (Ministry of Defense), Director General of the Kanto Bureau of Economy, Trade and Industry, Director General for the Natural Resources and Fuel Department at the Agency for Natural Resources and Energy, and Director of the Trade Policy Division within the Trade Policy Bureau. He has extensive experience in international negotiations. For example, during his tenure as Secretary General of the Japanese Business Council in Europe, he was part of the first Japanese lobbying effort directed at the EU. He has authored books such as “Global Rules as Competition Strategy” (Toyo Keizai) and “Sustainability Mix” (Union of Japanese Scientists and Engineers). He joined the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (now the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry) in 1987. He is a graduate of the University of Tokyo, Faculty of Economics, and has an MBA from the University of Washington. He retired from civil service in March 2022.

Tsutomu Sunada served as Director General of the Info-Communications Bureau, National Police Agency (the Agency’s CISO) upon his appointment to the role in January 2021, and he led the establishment of the Cyber Police Bureau. His earlier roles include Head of Development for the Cabinet Satellite Intelligence Center and First Secretary at the Embassy of Japan in Serbia and Montenegro, where he was responsible for international investigations and intelligence. At the National Police Agency, since the early era of the internet, he led the development of digital forensic capabilities, supported drafting of legislation such as the Act on Prohibition of Unauthorized Computer Access, and established attribution functions against state-sponsored cyber-attacks. He entered the National Policy Agency in 1987, and he graduated from the Graduate School of Yokohama National University. He retired from civil service in January 2022.

Shuji Onishi served in the counterintelligence unit of the Public Security Bureau’s First Foreign Affairs Division, where he handled investigations on espionage activities and counterterrorism against far-right, far-left, and Islamist extremist groups. After joining the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department in 1980, he worked in the Japanese intelligence community for roughly thirty years with a focus on intelligence collection and analysis, supporting national decision-making from an intelligence perspective. At the Cabinet Secretariat’s Headquarters for the Abduction Issue, he collected intelligence regarding victims of abduction by North Korea. He also served as Senior Intelligence Specialist at the Cabinet Intelligence and Research Office, researching developments regarding China, North Korea, and Russia. He retired from civil service in February 2016.

Hiroshi Kakizoe provides advisory services to government agencies regarding countermeasures against organized crime. He served as Counselor of the Criminal Investigation Department and as Director of the Organized Crime Countermeasures Division of the same department. Earlier in his career, at different ranks, he led investigations into gang conflicts, corporate extortion, and large-scale organized fraud, including cases involving the Yamaguchi Gumi, Japan’s largest designated organized crime group. He built a career dedicated to countering antisocial forces after joining the Hyogo Prefectural Police in 1982 and his assignment to the Criminal Investigation Department’s Second Division for Organized Crime Countermeasures (now the Organized Crime Countermeasures Division) in 1991. He currently serves as an Advisor at Kokushikan Educational Corporation. He retired from civil service in March 2019.

Hayato Kitamura is a Partner at the law firm Miura & Partners (from 2025) and a Visiting Fellow at the Hudson Institute (from 2023). He specializes in corporate law, corporate governance, M&A, commercial litigation, and international transaction and investment law. He provides wide-ranging advice on cross border M&A, including on Japanese companies’ overseas expansion (for example, through the establishment of joint ventures with local companies or the establishment of foreign subsidiaries) and foreign companies’ inbound M&A and investment. He also provides strategic advisory services that draw on his expertise in national security. His selected publications include “Understanding Company Law: On the Bases of Practice and Precedent” (Shoji Homu) and “Point Commentary: The Financial Instruments and Exchange Act for Practitioners (2nd ed.)” (Shoji Homu). He has a Bachelor of Economics from the University of Tokyo, Faculty of Economics, a J.D. from the University of Tokyo, Graduate Schools for Law and Politics, and an LL.M. from Columbia Law School.

Phil Midland currently serves as President of IHS International LC, a U.S. company which provides strategic advisory services with a focus on China and the Indo-Pacific region. He is also President of Strategic Renaissance 21, a non-profit research and assessment group led by prominent American leaders from industry, academia, and public service, providing advice on the Indo-Pacific strategy of the U.S. Earlier, he directly supported Mr. Andrew Marshall, Director Office of the Secretary of Defense, Office of Net Assessment for 20 years regarding political and infrastructure assessments concerning China. He was also a Federal Executive Fellow supporting the work of Samuel Huntington at Harvard University. He served in the U.S. Navy for 22 years, retiring with the rank of Captain. He has a M.A. in International Relations from the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies.