The Defense Agency Historical Materials, a group of materials collected for the compilation of the Defense Agency's history, which were transferred en bloc from the Defense Agency to the National Archives of Japan in FY2005, and subsequently transferred from the Ministry of Defense in FY2018 and FY2019 as "Donated Materials Related to the 50th Anniversary of the Defense Agency," consisting of the Kubo Papers and Ito Papers, personal documents of defense bureaucrats, which were The collection is a group of original documents that trace the footsteps of defense policy, consisting of personal documents of defense bureaucrats transferred from the Ministry of Defense. Although it has been pointed out that the release of the Defense Documents has been slower than that of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, these documents are indispensable for empirical research on the history of Japanese defense and security policy and are also useful for various research fields such as political and diplomatic history, Japan-US relations, and international relations.

Part I "Kubo Documents", "Ito Documents", Memoirs and Testimonies

The personal documents of Takuya Kubo (former Defense Vice Minister) and Keiichi Ito (former Director General of the Defense Agency and Secretary General of the National Defense Council), both of whom were defense bureaucrats, are included in this volume. The contents are mainly from the 60s and 70s. The collection also includes some memoirs and testimonies by defense bureaucrats and Self-Defense Forces officials in the "Defense Agency Historical Materials". The collection mainly covers the period from the end of the war and rearmament to the 1970s. In the catalog of the National Archives of Japan, each book of memoirs has an abstract title such as "Establishment of Self-Defense Forces 1 (1/2)," but this time, based on the original documents, the titles have been changed and the records have been subdivided as necessary to greatly improve access to the historical materials.

Part II: Proceedings of the Councilors’ Meetings, Agency Meetings, and Senior Executive Meetings

This part contains the minutes of the Council of Counsellors, the de facto final decision-making body of the Defense Agency, as well as the minutes of the Defense Agency's internal meetings, beginning with the Council of Counsellors in 1962 and extending through the 1970s. It can be considered a basic resource for tracing the process of defense policy.

Part III “Kubo Documents”, “Ito Documents”, Memoirs and Testimonies (2)

This database includes many of the personal documents by Takuya Kubo and Keiichi Ito, particularly those related to nuclear weapons. It also includes valuable original historical materials such as the "Kato Yozo Diary," memoirs and testimonies by defense bureaucrats and senior officers of the Self-Defense Forces, and also such as materials related to the "Institute of Historical Facts" established by Takushiro Hattori and others, the "Nagaishi Materials," which consist of materials related to demobilization and compensation left by Masataka Nagaishi, who worked at the Second Demobilization Bureau, and the Y Committee records.


Part IV: Proceedings of the Councilors’ Meetings, Agency Meetings, and Senior Executive Meetings (2)

Additionally, minutes of meetings within the Defense Agency from the 1980s allow us to trace the development of Japan-U.S. cooperation based on the Guidelines for Japan-U.S. Defense Cooperation formulated in 1978, as well as discussions within the Defense Agency during the new Cold War era.