US fighter jet crashes off Japan coast

A US F15 fighter jet crashed off the southern coast of Japan on Monday but the pilot ejected and was rescued by Japanese forces, Tokyo's defence minister said.

The Japanese military "received information that a crew member of the F15 jet, which belongs to the Kadena Air Base, ejected above the sea some 80 kilometres south of Naha," the regional capital of Japan's southern Okinawa island, Itsunori Onodera told reporters.

About an hour after receiving the initial information, Japanese military officials spotted and rescued the pilot who sustained "non-life-threatening" injuries, Onodera said.

Japan's public broadcaster NHK said the rescued pilot had a broken leg.

Kadena is the largest US military base in Japan, and hosts around 47,000 American troops under a decades-long security alliance.