The government sent 17 more rescue workers to Turkey on Wednesday, including four Kobe firefighters who helped in the 1995 Great Hanshin Earthquake.
The team also consists of fire officials from Tokyo, Kawasaki and Amagasaki, Hyogo Prefecture. It is scheduled to arrive in Istanbul late Wednesday night to join rescue operations in western Turkey, which was devastated by an earthquake Tuesday.
Wednesday's dispatch follows that of 20 firefighters Tuesday night. Seventeen medical personnel were also scheduled to head for Turkey Wednesday night.
"We considered many things in the aftermath of the earthquake here, so we wanted to send them to the area as soon as possible," a Kobe municipal official said, referring to the dispatch of its four firefighters who took part in rescue operations in the Hanshin quake, which resulted in the loss of more than 6,300 lives.
Japan first sent quake rescue teams to Cameroon in 1986, then on eight other occasions, to destinations that include the Philippines, Bangladesh and Indonesia.