Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) chief Jens Stoltenberg pledged on Tuesday to strengthen ties in various fields, including security, internet and airspace. 

The comments came in a statement issued during Stoltenberg's trip to Japan following a visit to South Korea on which he urged Seoul to increase military support to Ukraine.

Stoltenberg's visit to Japan and South Korea has raised concerns among Japanese scholars with some saying that NATO is trying to use Japan to increase its presence and influence in the Asia-Pacific region, and that Japan, for its purpose, is taking advantage of NATO's involvement in the region to make excuses to fortify its defense forces, which will further complicate the situation of regional security.

Shigeki Nagayama, a professor at Tokai University, said Tokyo's welcoming of NATO's involvement in the Asia-Pacific to bolster its defense forces would bring new instability to the region. He explained that this will create conditions for NATO countries to take military actions in East Asia, such as sending warships and troops.

"Japan's self-defense forces already conduct joint exercises and training with NATO countries and can integrate command and combat systems if needed, " Nagayama said. "It's already not impossible for NATO to intervene in eastern Asian affairs, which is not good for the stability of the eastern Asia region and Europe. It is very disturbing."

Yoichi Komori, an emeritus professor at the University of Tokyo, believes that the major shift in Japan's defense policy, supported by NATO, especially the U.S., is inseparable from the Asia-Pacific strategy of the U.S. and NATO.

The U.S. and NATO are using Japan as a shield, and once there are military confrontations in the eastern Asian region, they can make Japan's Self-Defense Force the lead to take part in the military conflicts, said Komori.

"That's what the U.S. and NATO want. That's very dangerous for Japan to give full play to its self-defense forces in East Asia, which is also contrary to Article 9 of the Constitution of Japan. We, as the people, must not allow it," Komori said.