The Defense Agency and the National Police Agency have begun talks to map out a cooperation blueprint for Ground Self-Defense Force troops and police to cope with future contingencies such as terrorist activities and guerrilla attacks.
According to defense and police sources, who asked not to be named, the cooperation manual will be completed by the end of the year.
Throughout the talks, the two bodies will discuss case-by-case scenarios by assuming various types, scales and targets of terrorist attacks, as well as duty-sharing between the GSDF and police in protecting such facilities as nuclear power plants, airports and harbors, they said.
The Defense Agency and the NPA also plan to beef up their communication by sharing some of their radio codes.
Under current law, police are to deal with all contingencies on the ground outside of war. Only when the situation expands beyond their capability, and the prime minister gives the Self-Defense Forces an order to "maintain public peace" with approval of the Diet, can the SDF jump in to help.
Such an order has never been issued in postwar Japan.
The move by the Defense Agency and the NPA aims to review existing cooperation guidelines drafted in 1954 by the two authorities, under which they can cooperate only in limited situations such as in a riot by demonstrators.
Meanwhile, the Defense Agency has already started to seek cooperation in sea patrols with the Maritime Safety Agency, Japan's primary coast guard under the Transport Ministry, following the Maritime Self-Defense Force's failure to catch two alleged North Korean spy boats in March.
An operations manual for MSDF-MSA cooperation is scheduled to be completed this year.