Australian, Japanese soldiers to train together in historic first
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe with PM Tony Abbott. (AAP) AAP
In a historic first, Australian troops will travel to Japan to take part in an earthquake response training exercise.
Defence force personnel will travel to Japan to take part in the Minchinoku Alert exercise, a scenario which will provide training for an earthquake disaster, News Ltd has reported.
The agreement was reached during Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's recent visit to Australia.
RSL president Ken Doolan told News Ltd the league's stance was to support the defence relationship between Australia and Japan.
However, he said some RSL members would not be pleased with the news.
He said Australia had already sent serving personnel to Japan in 2011 as part of a tsunami relief effort.
The announcement of the training exercise comes as Japan and Australia seek to strengthen their military relationship and Japan turns away from its post-WWII pacifism policy.
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