Ohno, director general of the Defence Agency, met with Indonesian Defense Minister Juwono Sudarsono who asked Japan to continue providing emergency relief aid and rescue personnel for the next three months, especially in hard-hit Aceh province, according to Jiji Press.

"We will continue to carry out relief operations with full force," Ohno told his Indonesian counterpart, Jiji said in a dispatch from Jakarta.

The commitment was expressed after Ohno issued an order Friday to dispatch some 1,000 Japanese troops to Indonesia to help tsunami victims.

It will be Japan's biggest overseas deployment since World War II, and some troops have already left Japan for emergency aid operations.

The troops will mainly provide medical and transport support.

Massive tsunami waves caused by a powerful earthquake off the coast of the northern Indonesian island of Sumatra on December 26 killed more than 156,000 people in 11 countries.

At least 23 Japanese citizens have been confirmed dead in the catastrophe while 247 Japanese are still unaccounted for.

"Japan belongs to Asia, and we will do whatever we can to help with the Self Defense Force personnel," Ohno told reporters after the meeting with Sudarsono.

"The emergency aid, reconstruction and rehabilitation will take a long time. We want to respond to future requests for help by keeping close communications" with victim countries," Ohno said.