Japanese and US Marines held their first joint landing and combat exercise near Mount Fuji, AP reports.

Japan has been increasing its defense budget and capabilities for about a decade and is now re-evaluating its key national security strategy in the face of threats from China, North Korea and now Russia.

On Tuesday, 400 members of the Japanese Rapid Deployment Landing Brigade and 600 US Marines based on the southern Japanese island of Okinawa jointly practiced amphibious and combat operations in an enemy invasion scenario on a remote Japanese island using Osprey tiltrotor aircraft, amphibious ships, armored vehicles and M777-type artillery.