"North Korea launched a ballistic missile that landed inside the exclusive economic zone west of Hokkaido Island," Kishida said in an address aired by the Japanese broadcaster.
The Japanese Defense Ministry assumes that Pyongyang may have launched an intercontinental ballistic missile along a so-called lofted trajectory, the broadcaster said.
Meanwhile, local media specified, citing Japanese Defense Ministry, that the ballistic missile was flying for 66 minutes, covering 900 kilometers (560 miles) with a maximum altitude of 5,700 kilometers.
The Japanese government expressed strong protest to North Korea over the test launch via diplomatic channels in Beijing.