Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara criticized the central government on Sunday for not calling a series of North Korean actions "terrorism."
Ishihara was referring to Pyongyang's missile exports, its abductions of Japanese nationals in the 1970s and 1980s, and its alleged smuggling of stimulant drugs into Japan.
"I wonder why the government fails to recognize (these acts by North Korea) as terrorism," he said. "There is a strange tendency (in the government) not to recognize things taken as granted."
Ishihara made the comments in a speech at a ceremony marking the establishment anniversary of the Ground Self-Defense Force's Nerima military station in the Tokyo ward.
The outspoken governor also criticized the Japanese people for relying on foreign forces to defend Japan.
"The United States is not a trustworthy country," he said.
"A country that fails to decide its own fate will eventually collapse."
Ishihara, 70, was re-elected by a landslide to a second four-year term on April 13.
Foreign Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi has rejected demands from families of those abducted to North Korea that the acts be recognized as terrorism and that economic sanctions be imposed on Pyongyang.
The demands came during talks between Kawaguchi and representatives of the families on March 12.