A 25-vehicle armoured convoy with about 50 soldiers on board drove to the base, where the Japanese forces will be deployed and where it was greeted by Iraqi well-wishers, an AFP photographer said.

Unit commander Colonel Yasushi Kiyota told a news conference he was "happy" to assist with the reconstruction of war-torn Iraq, in comments delivered in Japanese, English and Arabic.

A third contingent of Japanese troops are due to arrive Monday, senior Japanese military officials said.

Kiyota early Sunday morning gave the marching orders for the convoy and some 50 soldiers to go through the desert gateway, known as Navistar and used by coalition forces to enter Iraq from Kuwait.

"Let's do the work that makes history," he told the troops. "Do your work as usual."

Armoured personnel carriers, large and small trucks all carrying stickers of the Japanese flag drove the 300 kilometres (180 miles) to their Samawa base.

The Japanese are armed with pistols, 5.56 mm Japanese-made automatic rifles and heavy machine-guns, in addition to two types of anti-tank weapon, according to Lieutenant Colonel Shigeru Yamasaki, head of the Task Planning and Liaison Unit.

Two US army vehicles mounted with machine-guns protected the convoy which was emblazoned with the words "Japan" in English and Arabic.

The Japanese convoy left Camp Virginia, a US military outpost some 70 kilometers (40 miles) northwest of Kuwait City, just before dawn.

They headed north some 100 kilometres (60 miles) using highway 80 to Navistar, which is off-limits to civilians, and just a few hundred meters (yards) from the border crossing.

"I wished the troops good luck," Kiyota told reporters before crossing into Iraq. He added that he had spoken by telephone to his family and son before setting off.

Most members of the first contingent of 86 officers and soldiers were to be deployed to Iraq with a handful remaining in Kuwait to receive some 500 more ground troops.

"I am going on a mission," Major Kenji Murakami told AFP.

"Samawa appears to be quiet, but I really don't care and I am not afraid. I am excited to go on this mission," he said, standing next to an armoured vehicle.

Security is the main concern for the Japanese men.

"I am not happy going out there. But this is a noble and historic mission. It's my honour to get the chance. It was my choice and I was not forced," Major Yoshiyuki Goto said as he waited for orders to enter Iraq.

An advance unit of 39 Japanese troops entered Iraq on January 19 and set up base in Samawa pending the construction of a headquarters of their own.

A total of just over 500 ground troops, 200 airmen and an equal number from the Japanese navy are to be deployed to Iraq to carry out a humanitarian programme.

Responding to US pressure for participation in efforts to rebuild Iraq, Japan's ruling coalition passed a special law last July to allow troops to be sent to the war-torn country.

Despite the humanitarian nature of the mission, it remains controversial as Tokyo's post-war constitution outlaws the use of force to settle international disputes.

The troops will however be allowed to defend themselves if attacked.

In recent days, six chartered Russian Antonov cargo planes flew in some 600 tonnes of military hardware and construction equipment to Kuwait to be used in Iraq by the Japanese troops.

Support for the deployment back home has continued to rise according to a poll conducted by Japan's Kyodo news service Friday and Saturday.

Nearly 70 percent of the 1,473 people surveyed backed the mission, up 5.5 percent from the last survey conducted in mid-January. Opposition dropped 6.5 percent.

WAR.WIRE