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Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May visited Japan on Wednesday on an official visit where she was scheduled to hold discussions with Toyota's chairman during her three-day tour which starts in Osaka before moving to Tokyo where she will meet with Emperor Akihito and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who visited Britain this year.

"We're going to ask for transparency and predictability so as to minimise the impact on (our) companies," a Japanese foreign ministry official in charge of European affairs said ahead of May's visit.

"The best scenario for us is that Britain cancels its Brexit decision," said Ichiro Hara, head of the international affairs bureau at Japan's top business lobby Keidanren.

"But if that isn't an option, we are saying we need a transitional period… to mitigate the negative impact," he told AFP.

May — who arrived in Osaka Wednesday and is to attend a traditional tea ceremony in nearby Kyoto — will also be discussing issues tied to global terrorism and regional security, after North Korea sharply escalated regional tensions by launching a ballistic missile over Japan on Tuesday.

"The prime minister is outraged by North Korea's reckless provocation and she strongly condemns these illegal tests," a spokeswoman for May said Tuesday.

"From our perspective, we are willing to continue to work with our international partners to keep the pressure on North Korea."

May is also expected to focus on pushing forward with plans for a Britain-Japan free trade agreement.

But analysts said there would not likely be much progress until Japan and the EU wrap up a nearly-finalised trade deal, and details of Brexit are worked out.

"You cannot start official talks about such an idea until Britain leaves the EU," said Osamu Tanaka, a senior economist at Daiichi Life Research Institute.