US military helicopter makes emergency landing in Japan

Tokyo: A US military helicopter on Saturday morning made an emergency landing in a rice field in the Japanese prefecture of Kanagawa, south of Tokyo, local media reported.

No injuries have been reported in the incident which took place in Ebina city, national broadcaster NHK reported citing the local fire department, Xinhua news agency reported.

According to the Kanagawa Prefectural Police Headquarters, a report was received at 10:56 a.m. local time stating that a helicopter marked with the word "Navy" had landed in a rice field in the city.

The police believed the helicopter to be a US military aircraft but its exact affiliation remains unknown.

When the police arrived, they were unable to approach the helicopter, but no damage to the aircraft or oil leakage was observed, and there were no reports of injuries or falling debris in the vicinity.

The helicopter left the scene by taking off at around 12:40 p.m. local time, heading towards the US military's Atsugi base, according to media reports citing local officials.

Further details about the cause of the incident are still under investigation.