TOKYO, May 21 (Reuters) - Japan has strongly protested to North Korea about the ballistic missile launch it conducted on Sunday as Tokyo cannot tolerate its repeated acts of provocation, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told a news conference.

Suga said the missile was launched around 1659 JST (0759 GMT) from North Korea's west coast towards the Sea of Japan and it likely landed outside Japan's exclusive economic zone, without causing damages to ships and airplanes.

(Reporting by Tetsushi Kajimoto)