Four aircraft had been conducting a drill on Tuesday when communications with the F-35 were cut off and the plane disappeared from radar, Defense Minister Takeshi Iwaya told reporters on Wednesday morning. The missing pilot was the plane’s sole crew member, he said.

Image Search and rescue operations on Wednesday at the site where a Japanese-operated F-35A fighter jet crashed the day before. Credit... Kyodo, via Reuters

The Japanese military and coast guard and a United States Navy P-8A maritime patrol aircraft searched overnight for the missing jet and its pilot, officials said.

“We will do our utmost to save his life,” Mr. Iwaya said.

Japan’s 12 remaining F-35A jet fighters based at Misawa Air Base in Aomori were grounded and a panel was set up to determine the cause of the crash, Mr. Iwaya added.

The plane took off from Misawa at 6:59 p.m. on Tuesday and contact was lost at 7:27 p.m., the Ministry of Defense said in a statement. Some debris from the plane was found at 9:45 p.m., it said.

Last year, the United States temporarily grounded its fleet of about 220 F-35s made by the defense contractor Lockheed Martin after a crash in September. Initial data indicated problems with a fuel tube that may have contributed to that accident. The pilot ejected safely and survived.