Take cover: Japan and China on the brink of conflict

Japan's coast guard announced in a separate bulletin that its patrol boats had asked four Chinese coast guard ships to leave "their territorial waters."

It is the tenth such incident involving Chinese ships this year, the Japanese Coast Guard said.

The waters around the islands are disputed and claimed by both China and Japan.

The two sides faced off, deploying patrol boats and urging the other to leave the area.

Friday's confrontation came after the leaders of the United States, Japan and the Philippines held talks at the White House on Thursday to push back on Beijing's increased pressure on Manila in the disputed South China Sea.