A team of Japanese soldiers heading to Iraq in the Asian power's most controversial deployment since World War Two arrived in Kuwait on Saturday.
"Today is a big day for the Japanese Ground Self-Defence Forces... It is the first time (for them) to deploy to the Middle East after the Iraqi war to conduct the mission," said the commanding officer of the 35-strong team, Colonel Nasahisa Sato.
"Our mission is to support the Iraqi people by conducting water purification and water supply and medical support and construction," he told reporters at the US military's Camp Virginia, 45 km (30 miles) north-west of Kuwait City.
The advance party of the Ground Self-Defence Force, as the Japanese army is called, will pave the way for the arrival of a force which may eventually number 1,000 personnel.