Japan’s legislative approach to UAP has moved rapidly from formation of a cross-party parliamentary body in 2024 to formal defense ministry proposals in 2025 and plans for a specialized government crisis-management structure in 2026.
Parliamentary League Formation
On June 6, 2024, over 80 lawmakers from multiple parties convened the inaugural meeting of the Parliamentary League for Unraveling Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena from a National Security Perspective. The group is chaired by Yasukazu Hamada, head of parliamentary affairs for the Liberal Democratic Party. Secretary General is Shinjiro Koizumi, former Environment Minister.
Advisers include former Defence Minister Shigeru Ishiba, Kei Endo (chair of Japan Restoration Party), and Yoshiharu Asakawa. At the press conference announcing the group’s creation, both Endo and Asakawa stated they had personally witnessed UAP.
May 2025 Defense Ministry Proposal
On May 16, 2025, the parliamentary league delivered a formal proposal to Defense Minister Gen Nakatani calling for the Ministry of Defense to establish a specialized division with three objectives: collecting and analyzing UAP-related data, disclosing relevant findings to the public, and reporting investigation results regularly to the National Diet.
The proposal cited recent incursions of drones and surveillance balloons — particularly those believed to originate from China — as the national security framing for systematic UAP data collection.
Nakatani responded that the ministry would “make efforts to meet the expectations of lawmakers and the public.”
Genkai Nuclear Incident
On July 26, 2025, four security guards at Kyushu Electric Power Company’s Genkai Nuclear Power Station in Saga Prefecture reported three “drone-like lights” near the main entrance. Officials initially described the objects as drones, then corrected the statement to say the lights “appeared to be drones” without confirmation. The lights disappeared and nothing was found on the grounds. Watchdog officials called the incident “extremely unusual.”
On August 7, 2025, Hamada and other league members held closed-door hearings in the House of Representatives to review the Genkai incident.
March 2026 Proposal for Dedicated Government Body
At the league’s fourth general meeting on March 30, 2026, members announced a proposal to create a specialized government body for UAP intelligence and coordination, placed directly under the Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary for Crisis Management.
The proposal was driven by two factors: the Trump administration’s February 19, 2026 executive order mandating disclosure of UAP-related data, and the league’s own investigation into contradictions between Kyushu Electric Power’s operational records and the Saga Prefectural Police’s official explanation of the Genkai incident.