Japan's biggest warship, the Kaga helicopter carrier, joined naval drills with Britain's HMS Argyll in the Indian Ocean on Wednesday as the frigate headed toward the contested South China Sea and East Asia.
Britain, Japan and their close ally the United States have found common cause in countering growing Chinese influence in the region that they worry could put key commercial sea lanes linking Asia with Europe, the United States and elsewhere under Beijing's sway.
"We have traditional ties with the British navy and we are both close U.S. allies and these drills are an opportunity for us to strengthen cooperation," Kenji Sakaguchi, the Maritime Self Defence Forces commander of the Kaga group's four helicopters, said on the hangar deck.