No damage has been confirmed due to the eruption, public broadcaster NHK reported, citing a local police station in Kagoshima prefecture.

The government later issued a level 3 volcanic alert - out of 5 - for Suwanosejima, restricting the entrance to dangerous areas surrounding the volcano.

(Reporting by Urvi Dugar in Bengaluru and Kantaro Komiya in Tokyo; Editing by Toby Chopra and Mark Potter)