The request was made to then-Japanese Prime Minister Toshiki Kaifu who did not follow through, the Japanese news outlet said, citing the documents.
The agency added that Japan did, however, deploy minesweepers to the Persian Gulf as a contribution to the end of the war.
On 2 August 1990, the Iraqi army invaded Kuwait with the aim of acquiring the nation's largest oil reserves that would cancel a debt Iraq owed Kuwait. Bush deployed US forces to Saudi Arabia and asked other countries to join the effort.
US-led Coalition Soldiers During First Gulf War
On 16 January 1991, Bush announced the start of Operation Desert Storm that was aimed at expelling Iraqi forces from Kuwait. The US-led coalition had positioned over 900,000 troops in the region, most near the Saudi-Iraqi border. A five-week bombardment of Iraq began after the country failed to withdraw its troops from Kuwait before the United Nations declared January 15 deadline. Iraq was driven out of Kuwait by February 24.