The defence ministry said the 197-metre (646 foot) long Hyuga -- which can carry 11 helicopters on its flat deck -- is different from the light aircraft carriers of foreign armed forces which it resembles.

"Aircraft carriers of the United States or Russia or European military forces have a fair degree of offensive functions," the navy's chief of staff, Admiral Keiji Akahoshi, said at the launch in Yokohama port near Tokyo.

"But the Hyuga falls a little outside of that frame."

Under its US-imposed 1947 pacifist constitution, Japan renounced using or threatening force in international disputes. It nonetheless has one of the world's best-funded militaries, the Self-Defence Forces (SDF).

The government has said the constitution grants the SDF the right to possess a minimum level of armed force for self-defence but not aircraft carriers with their greater offensive capabilities and reach.

The 13,950-tonne destroyer is one of the largest vessels built for the Japanese Marine SDF. It will be stationed in Yokosuka port, near Tokyo, and is expected to be sent on overseas disaster relief missions.

The Hyuga has about 340 crew -- including 17 female officers and sailors, the first women to serve on an SDF naval destroyer.

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