The Japanese Defense Ministry says a Chinese naval vessel entered Japan's territorial waters off the southern prefecture of Kagoshima on Wednesday.

Defense officials say the survey ship was spotted in Japan's contiguous zone south of the island of Yakushima at around 6:50 p.m. They say it entered Japanese territorial waters at about 8 p.m.

Tokyo monitored the movement through information sent from a Maritime Self-Defense Force team including the supply ship Masyuu.

The officials report that the Chinese vessel left Japanese territorial waters west of the island of Kuchinoerabujima three-and-a-half hours later, navigating in a westerly direction.

This is the sixth time that a Chinese naval vessel has been confirmed to have entered Japan's territorial waters and the first since April.