There was a mixture of anger and surprise on the streets of Tokyo on Monday over North Korea's rocket launch.

"North Korea is acting like a scoundrel, threatening an unarmed man with a gun," a 74-year-old retired man near JR Yurakucho Station in Chiyoda Ward said of Sunday's launch, declining to give his name.

The hermit state's ability to pose a missile threat also came as a shock for Yoko, a resident of Fukuoka Prefecture who gave only her first name.