Experts voiced doubt Wednesday at just how serious Tokyo is in trying to collect intelligence on terrorism after the Foreign Ministry posted a job offer on its website in September seeking a part-time security analyst on global terrorism.

The newly hired officer will be assigned to analyze terrorist groups like the self-proclaimed Islamic State, al-Qaida as well as other organizations in the Middle East, Southeast Asia and Africa.

The applicant, required to work three days a week, will have a renewable two-year contract but without benefits such as health insurance and pension.

The bar, however, is high as the applicants will be required to have expertise on terrorism and security issues in the Middle East and either a university graduate degree or be currently studying in a master's degree program. English language capability is a must, preferably together with a command of French, Arabic or Indonesian.

"Will (the government) be able to recruit someone for this position?" Akihiro Sawa, director of nonprofit research organization International Environment and Economy Institute, commented on his official Twitter account.

"Research on terrorist groups will require analytical teams with broad-based regional knowledge, but also knowledge of how these groups operate," said Christopher Lamont, an assistant professor of international relations at University of Groningen in the Netherlands.

"Other countries have dedicated counterterrorism centers that conduct wide-reaching analysis not just on terrorist groups, but also on broader social and political questions that often give rise to such groups," said Lamont, an expert on Middle Eastern politics.

Rodger Shanahan, associate professor at Australia's Lowy Institute who has worked for U.N. operations in southern Lebanon and Syria, East Timor and Beirut as well as Afghanistan, agrees.

Security analysts would have to be well versed in the ideology behind militant organizations, understand their structures and linkages, as well as their intent, if any, to target Japanese political and/or business interests and analyze their capabilities.

"One person on a two-year contract doesn't give the government much analytical capability," Shanahan said. "If one is serious about analyzing this threat then you have to invest time and money and build an analytical capability of several people working together for a number of years," he added.