Media reports from Japan say the government has reached a deal to buy disputed islands in the East China Sea from their private owner.
The government will pay 2.05bn yen ($26m, £16.4m) to buy islands known as Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China.
There was no confirmation from officials, but the reports were carried by major Japanese media outlets, citing government sources.
The outspoken Tokyo governor had also been seeking to buy the islands.
Shintaro Ishihara had been collecting public donations for the purchase, amid high tensions with China over the island chain.
'Two-faced' Kyodo news agency, citing government sources, said the agreement to buy three of the five main islands was reached with the owner on Monday.
A formal purchase contract would likely be exchanged by the end of this month, it said.
Deputy Chief Cabinet secretary Hiroyuki Nagahama met the landowners on Monday and struck the deal to buy three major islands in the chain, including Uotsurijima, the largest island, Yomiuri said.
Government officials were not immediately available to confirm the reports.
Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda’s cabinet would soon confirm the nationalization of the islands and allocate reserve funds for the purchase, the Asahi Shimbun reported.
Noda plans to formally inform the Chinese about the move on the sidelines of the U.N. assembly meeting later this month, the Asahi said, but a Japan-China summit has not yet been set.
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