A Japan chapter of the Information Efficiency Unit (DOGE), led by Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk in the early days of the Donald Trump administration, is expected to be established.
According to the Nikkei on the 23rd, the Japanese government plans to create a tentatively named "Office for Review of special tax measures and subsidies" with about 30 members under the Cabinet Secretariat.
The organization will not only reorganize the existing Administrative Reform Promotion Headquarters under the Cabinet Secretariat but also build a cooperation framework with the Ministry of Finance, which oversees national tax operations, and the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, which is in charge of local taxes.
The first meeting is scheduled to be held at the prime minister's office in early next month, and full-scale operation of the organization is planned to begin in 2026. The minister in charge is expected to be Finance Minister Katayama Satsuki.
The creation of the organization stems from an agreement reached when the ruling Liberal Democratic Party formed a coalition with the Japan Innovation Party in October to conduct a comprehensive review of subsidies and abolish those with low policy effectiveness.
At the time, the agreement specified the establishment of a tentatively named "Government Efficiency Bureau" as the organization to handle this. It was modeled after the Trump administration's Information Efficiency Unit.
The Nikkei said, "The new organization will review subsidies, special tax measures, and funds to reduce wasteful spending and support Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's Cabinet in pursuing 'responsible active fiscal policy.'"