Around 100 peace activists gathered to protest against the mission as the two destroyers left the western naval port of Kure near the city of Hiroshima, which suffered an atomic bomb attack in 1945.

The warships, each with 200 crew and carrying two patrol helicopters and two speedboats, will sail for the Gulf of Aden on a mission to protect Japanese cargo ships near the Suez Canal, which links Europe with Asia.

"It is a well-known fact that piracy attacks have rapidly increased in the Gulf of Aden off Somalia," said Prime Minister Taro Aso during a ceremony ahead of the departure.

"I hope all the crew members will safely return after completing the mission," he said.

Under a pacifist constitution, which Japan adopted after World War II, the mission will allow its soldiers to use force only for self-defence and to protect Japanese interests, defined as its nationals, ships and cargo.

The Japanese government is preparing a new law that would widen the scope of force its military personnel can use against pirates and allow them to protect foreign vessels and nationals as well as Japanese.

The United States, European countries and Japan's regional rival China have already deployed naval vessels to fend off pirates behind more than 100 attacks on ships last year in one of the world's busiest shipping lanes.

"I have to work hard to enact the law as soon as possible," Aso told reporters at the port. "It would be too late if something happens."

But it remains unclear when the bill would be debated or voted on. The opposition Democratic Party of Japan, which controls the upper house, has not clarified its position on the bill.

The maritime mission has divided public opinion in Japan, where any military mission sent overseas is considered controversial under the post-war constitution.

In the latest government poll released Saturday, 63 percent of the public supported the anti-piracy mission while nearly 70 percent feared that the Japanese troops may get involved in war, according to Jiji Press.

A handful of activists boarded rafts to protest against the departure of the warships, the 4,650-tonne Sazanami and 4,550-tonne Samidare.

"The mission may encounter a scene where Japanese servicemen are forced to employ military force," said activist Hideki Nitta. "We are concerned because we did promise from here in Hiroshima that Japan will never commit a war."

Japan's major past overseas missions -- including in Iraq, near Afghanistan, and as UN peacekeepers -- have been largely for logistical and support purposes such as refuelling, transport and reconstruction.

Since World War II, the Japanese troops -- which the pacifist nation calls the Self-Defence Forces -- "have never been shot at with bullets or shot bullets" in combat, according to a defence ministry official.

If Japanese personnel fired at pirates on the high seas, it would be the first time in an overseas mission since the war.

The ships are expected to arrive in waters near the Suez canal in two to three weeks.

Around 2,000 Japanese ships -- including tankers carrying vital oil shipments from the Middle East -- sail through Somali waters and the Suez canal every year.

The nation's shipping industry has voiced alarm over the potential cost of adopting safer but longer routes around Africa.

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