Japanese

Provisional Translation

[Opening remarks:]

Minister)

Earlier, U.S.-based Anthropic announced that it would expand participation in what is known as Project Glasswing to include organizations outside the United States. As we had agreed to coordinate the timing of the announcement, I am now able, as the minister responsible, to speak to you about this. As had been agreed for some time between us and the U.S. Department of the Treasury, the participants include the Government of Japan as well as some Japanese financial institutions. The Japan-U.S. Finance Ministerial Meeting was held three weeks ago. At that time, Secretary Bessent said that this would be done in about two weeks. We are now in the third week, and I believe that his commitment has been largely fulfilled. Japan has now been given access to Claude Mythos Preview, a frontier AI model. I recently mentioned that, with regard to OpenAI as well, access had been granted to GPT-5.5, a model said to have comparable or similar capabilities, and work is already underway on that front. We are also ready to move forward with this one. It has been just under three weeks since we held a meeting together with the Financial Services Agency, and we had made a certain amount of preparations. I am therefore very pleased that this has now come about. Naturally, the Prime Minister has also been informed of this matter. When Secretary Bessent paid a courtesy call on the Prime Minister, I also raised this issue myself. In that sense, I am very pleased that the commitment between the two countries has been duly honored, and I am also very grateful for the efforts of those involved on the U.S. side. Throughout this process, I have continued discussions with Secretary Bessent while working closely with the FSA’s international affairs staff and, on the Ministry of Finance side, the Vice Minister of Finance for International Affairs, the Director-General of the International Bureau, and other officials. [M1] Since then, staff have carried the work forward. I believe a great deal of effort has gone into this and that it has produced results. In any event, the threat brought to light by Anthropic has shaken the world. It is therefore very welcome that, at the very least, Japan’s financial system, and Japan itself, will now be able to be at the forefront of these preparations. Strengthening cybersecurity is absolutely essential, and I welcome this development. If possible, I would also be even more pleased if Japan, through this kind of testing, could gain new insights and develop defensive methods that help provide greater reassurance to the public and ensure broader protection. That is all from me.

[Questions and answers:]

Q.

You mentioned “some financial institutions.” Could you tell us specifically which institutions you were referring to?

A.

Since this involves contracts between individual companies, I think it is probably something you can infer, rather than something I should state myself.

Q.

Would it be correct to assume that these are the individual companies that have been reported in the media?

A.

I will refrain from naming them, but I think it would be fair to say that they are certain institutions. It does not mean all financial institutions.

Q.

Minister, you mentioned earlier that this was achieved within three weeks of Secretary Bessent’s visit to Japan. Could you once again comment on the pace at which this has moved forward?

A.

When they said “about two weeks,” that often means three or four weeks in practice, so taking that into account, I think they have acted with great sincerity. Or rather, this was an extremely difficult matter, even from the U.S. side’s perspective. Although the entity involved is a private company, given the nature of this matter, I imagine that difficult coordination was required—not only on issues involving classified information and defense-related matters, but also, from their perspective, in light of the earlier disclosure concerning access for the Five Eyes. They have to shoulder burdens that Japan would not necessarily face. We highly appreciate the fact that they properly honored the commitment made between the two finance ministries. At present, we are engaging in the finance ministers’ process while discussing a wide range of multilayered issues with both the United States and Europe. I am pleased that this was part of that process.

Q.

Anthropic has announced that, in addition to financial institutions, it will expand access to sectors such as electricity, water, and telecommunications across 15 countries. I understand that this may not involve naming individual companies, but could you share your views on the prospects for expanding access to entities in Japan other than financial institutions?

A.

As we may have explained at a previous briefing, finance is an industry that, by its nature, cannot function without overseas and cross-border transactions. It is therefore among the first to face such risks, and there is also a particularly large volume of instantaneous transactions between Japan and the United States. That is the point we have been making. In addition, finance is a licensed industry in every country. To protect the credit system and depositors, I would not characterize this as involving a certain level of authority to issue orders, but we have been discussing the matter between governments in that context. There is also economic security legislation, and there are critical infrastructure sectors. We are not saying that we are acting on behalf of those sectors, but we have mentioned them specifically in our discussions, and I understand that such sectors are also included. As for how this should be described, we are now working in close coordination with Minister Matsumoto, who is in charge of cybersecurity, and the National Cybersecurity Office, in order to achieve the best outcome for the government as a whole and for the public as a whole. Minister Matsumoto is expected to hold a press conference on this matter tomorrow morning. There will likely be things he can and cannot say, so I would like to leave the matter to him. From our side, we have made requests regarding matters that would ordinarily and reasonably be considered necessary. I do not believe those matters will be neglected.

Q.

Would it be correct to understand that the financial institutions include the three megabanks?

A.

I will refrain from commenting on that as well. As I said in relation to OpenAI, there is, after all, the scale of transactions to consider, and there is also the fact that, in the banking industry as a whole, the leadership role rotates among banks. However, rather than our making any definitive statement, this will be a transaction between private-sector parties. The other side is also a private company, at least in principle, even if the government is taking a leading role. For that reason, I will refrain from listing them.

Q.

When is access expected to be granted? Or has it already been granted?

A.

I understand that access has been granted, and I believe that is also consistent with the wording used by the U.S. Treasury. However, when actual work begins is a separate matter. Preparations to begin the work are also being made under Japan’s version of Glasswing, and vendors are, of course, included in that process as well. I think that is the more important point. In other words, testing needs to be conducted. As to exactly when that will happen, I have not heard details at that technical level.

Q.

So, is it correct to understand that access has been granted?

A.

That is my understanding. I understand that we are now able to access it.

Q.

Does that mean other sectors are included?

A.

From the perspective of economic security, we have listed sectors that we consider, as a matter of course, to be necessary—not only finance. As for how this will be explained overall, including the wording to be used, Minister Matsumoto is expected to speak on this tomorrow, although I do not know whether there will be things he can or cannot say; that is the division of roles we have agreed upon. 

Q.

I understand that access will now be granted in concrete terms and work will begin. In this case, what is the status of vendors? Does this mean that access has also been granted to vendors?

A.

What I mean is that, for example, even among U.S. companies, only companies such as Microsoft or Apple would be able to conduct all testing entirely in-house. Otherwise, ordinary private companies would have specialists involved in some form. Those specialists, or people in such positions, would naturally be the ones carrying out the practical work.

Q.

Are Japanese IT vendors also included among the participants in this project?

A.

The names of the financial institutions have been mentioned to some extent, and the other side knows which vendors are involved in building their systems. I do not think many people believe that financial institutions developed all of their code entirely on their own. 

Q.

I know I am repeating the question, but could you tell us how many financial institutions are included in “some financial institutions”?

A.

I will leave that for you to infer. In practice, these are transactions between private-sector parties, so I expect that this will become clear in the not-too-distant future. 

Q.

Now that access has been granted, I would like to ask again what expectations or requests you have for financial institutions regarding how they should address cybersecurity measures.

A.

When I first spoke about this at a press conference, the participants in Glasswing were mainly the three megabanks. Those institutions themselves described this as an imminent threat, and I also described it as an imminent threat. If this kind of capability were to be used for some malicious purpose, the largest proportion would likely involve money-related issues, such as proceeds of crime, money laundering, or fraud. That would also include cases where funds are fraudulently transferred to another recipient. Of course, there are also issues related to national defense and terrorism, but in terms of frequency, economic crimes are clearly the most common, regardless of scale. Financial institutions are the most likely to be exposed to such crimes. Therefore, whether they can respond thoroughly is extremely important, and it is also directly related to whether Japan’s financial institutions can maintain a high level of credibility. Going forward, the financial industry itself is also one of Japan’s major growth industries. We would face difficulties unless Japan’s financial institutions are able to maintain cybersecurity capabilities at least on par with those of leading financial institutions in the United States, and that is what I expect of them. In Japan, as you know, there are certain particular features in the way systems are built, such as the relatively widespread use of on-premises systems. Precisely because of those particular features, there may also be possibilities for financial institutions to develop distinctive ways of protecting themselves while carefully assessing the position they are in. I also have high expectations in that regard, including the very strong possibility that financial institutions may be able to support their clients through such innovations.

Q.

Since this is a transaction between private-sector parties, I assume there may be a fee involved. Could you tell us the amount? Also, if the government has made any payment, could you tell us about that as well?

A.

No, there is no such payment on our part, and we are not getting involved in arrangements between private-sector parties.