The U.S. military also plans to hold exercises involving underwater explosions on Sunday off Tanegashima Island in Kagoshima Prefecture, southwestern Japan, as well as in the East China Sea from Friday to Sunday, and Monday to Wednesday, according to the Fisheries Agency and the coast guard.
The Foreign Ministry and other authorities said they were told the explosions would involve dropping devices — known as noise makers and each weighing about 5 kilograms — into the waters.
Senior Vice Foreign Minister Tetsuro Yano said he was informed that the devices will make use of explosives but are not bombs, and that the U.S. forces intend to study the impact of such explosions through the sound waves they produce in the waters.
Yano said the ministry has asked the U.S. to cancel the drill, and is waiting for a response.
At a news conference, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda quoted a U.S. official as saying the U.S. would keep the request in mind.
Fukuda, the government's top spokesman, also said the government does not know whether the U.S. has indeed begun the drill.
The Foreign Ministry and other authorities said they were told the explosions would involve dropping devices — known as noise makers and each weighing about 5 kilograms — into the waters.
Senior Vice Foreign Minister Tetsuro Yano said he was informed that the devices will make use of explosives but are not bombs, and that the U.S. forces intend to study the impact of such explosions through the sound waves they produce in the waters.
Yano said the ministry has asked the U.S. to cancel the drill, and is waiting for a response.
At a news conference, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda quoted a U.S. official as saying the U.S. would keep the request in mind.
Fukuda, the government's top spokesman, also said the government does not know whether the U.S. has indeed begun the drill.