The US military's Osprey aircraft arrived in Japan early Monday as residents rallied against their deployment after recent crashes raised safety concerns.

Live television footage showed MV-22s being unloaded from a cargo ship at the US Marines' base in Iwakuni, western Japan.

Protesters nearby chanted slogans, shouting "We don't want Osprey!" and "Osprey, go back to America!"

The aircraft is to undergo checkups at Iwakuni. The US military plans to fully deploy Osprey aircraft on Okinawa in October while the governor of the sub-tropical Japanese island chain has rejected the US plan because of safety concerns.

The Osprey is a hybrid aircraft with rotors that allow it to take off like a helicopter and engines that can tilt forward, enabling it to fly like an airplane at greater speed than a chopper.

The Osprey was plagued with problems in its early years in the 1990s, but US officials say the technical glitches have been cleared up and the US Marine Corps says it has proven invaluable.

A US Air Force CV-22 Osprey crashed in Florida in June, injuring all five crew members. US officials said the accident was not due to mechanical problem.

In April, an MV-22 Osprey -- the variant that arrived in Japan -- crashed in Morocco, killing two Marines.

Although local governments in Japan have no legal grounds to reject the US deployment plan, strong resentment from Okinawan islanders could further erode public support for the government of Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda.

The aircraft is destined for the Marine Corps airbase of Futenma, which has been at the centre of a long-running stand-off as it sits in a developing urban area.

A huge US military presence in Okinawa, accounting for around half of the 47,000 troops Washington has in Japan, has angered islanders there.