US President Donald Trump has said Japan could shoot North Korean missiles "out of the sky" with military equipment bought from the US.
Japan's PM Shinzo Abe in the interim said his nation could catch rockets "if important".
The two pioneers were addressing correspondents at the end of Mr Trump's initially state visit to Japan.
North Korea has terminated long-run ballistic rockets over A japanese area twice lately.
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On Monday, while noting inquiries at a public interview, Mr Trump said Mr Abe was "going to buy gigantic measures of military hardware" from the US.
Referencing North Korea's rockets, he said Mr Abe could "shoot them out of the sky" when he finished the buy, which he said would give occupations to Americans and in addition "security for Japan".
Mr Abe said Japan needed to "subjectively and quantitatively" upgrade its safeguard ability, given the "extremely intense" North Korea circumstance.
He focused on that rocket safeguard depended on "lawful co-operation" amongst Japan and the US, and concerning shooting down rockets, "if essential obviously we can do that".
It isn't evdent whether a military arrangement has been marked amid Mr Trump's excursion, yet the two nations are close military partners with the US keeping up a few army installations in Japan.
In September Mr Trump had tweeted that he would permit the offer of top of the line military hardware to Japan and South Korea.
Japan does not have a standing armed force, but rather keeps up what it calls a self-preservation constrain, under its post-war radical constitution which the hawkish Mr Abe has been trying to reconsider.
The two pioneers likewise reaffirmed their binds and swore to "remain against the North Korean threat", said Mr Trump.
Mr Trump is going by Japan as a component of his initially voyage through Asia as US president.
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Prior in his visit he additionally went to a US air base close Tokyo, and met American business pioneers where he publically reprimanded Japan over an exchange shortfall.
Mr Trump will visit South Korea, China, Vietnam and the Philippines in the coming week.