Event: the Defense Ministry

The Cabinet Secretariat improperly handled 9,424 sets of administrative documents containing specially designated secrets last year, a government report showed Friday.The documents were stored inappropriately, such as being left in office drawers, instead of being kept in lockable safes, according to the report on the implementation of the system to protect specially designated secrets in 2025.The report also showed 16 improper cases at the Defense Ministry, including disposing of secrets-containing documents without going through appropriate procedures stipulated by the public records management law, such as getting the consent of the prime minister.The cumulative number of specially designated secrets stood at 854 as of the end of 2025, up by 66 from a year earlier, and that of documents containing such secrets rose by 58,584 to 803,358.Regarding Japan’s efforts to bolster its intelligence capabilities, an expert has requested that the country not neglect the protection of secrets and that the government as a whole exercise greater caution on the matter, according to the report.