The idea of a Japanese James Bond may sound hilarious, but serious discussions are under way in Japan on whether to create a secret intelligence service along the lines of Britain's MI6 to conduct overseas espionage.
The deliberations were triggered by a proposal from a panel of experts under Foreign Minister Nobutaka Machimura that was tasked with coming up with ways of strengthening the country's international information-gathering systems.
The five-member committee is headed by Yoshio Omori, a former chief of the Cabinet Information Research Office, and includes military critic Kensuke Ebata.