July 22, 2011
To not disclose images collected by the Japanese satellite, the government has paid 36 million yen to buy the images of the Fukushima accident filmed by U.S. commercial satellites.
The purchase came to light on July 21 through a government written reply to Japanese Communist Party House of Representatives member Yoshii Hidekatsu.
Yoshii criticized the government for wasting the national budget on purchasing the satellite images from the United States in spite of Japan operating its own information-gathering satellite.
The Japanese satellite in question is in fact a military spy satellite which was introduced to “respond to disasters on a large scale” and “national security matters.” The Cabinet Secretariat administers it and the Defense Ministry is a major user of its filmed images.
In the written reply to the JCP representative, the government explained that the images gathered by the satellite should not be open to the public and be made available only to those who agree to confidentiality.
Yoshii has found out that the first and the third directors of the Cabinet Satellite Intelligence Center operating the satellite were former Defense Ministry (Agency) chiefs of its Defense Intelligence Headquarters.
Yoshii presumed that the Cabinet Satellite Intelligence Center is an organization engaged in spy activities.
The purchase came to light on July 21 through a government written reply to Japanese Communist Party House of Representatives member Yoshii Hidekatsu.
Yoshii criticized the government for wasting the national budget on purchasing the satellite images from the United States in spite of Japan operating its own information-gathering satellite.
The Japanese satellite in question is in fact a military spy satellite which was introduced to “respond to disasters on a large scale” and “national security matters.” The Cabinet Secretariat administers it and the Defense Ministry is a major user of its filmed images.
In the written reply to the JCP representative, the government explained that the images gathered by the satellite should not be open to the public and be made available only to those who agree to confidentiality.
Yoshii has found out that the first and the third directors of the Cabinet Satellite Intelligence Center operating the satellite were former Defense Ministry (Agency) chiefs of its Defense Intelligence Headquarters.
Yoshii presumed that the Cabinet Satellite Intelligence Center is an organization engaged in spy activities.
