Japan said Tuesday that it would sharply increase its nonmilitary aid to Afghanistan, pledging $5 billion for projects that include building schools and highways, training police officers, clearing land mines and rehabilitating former Taliban fighters. The announcement of the new aid package, which is to be disbursed over the next five years, comes just days before the arrival of President Barack Obama in Japan. He is scheduled to arrive Friday in Tokyo, his first stop on a weeklong visit to Asia. During meetings with senior Japanese diplomats in Tokyo last month, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates urged Japan to 'implement strong assistance toward Afghanistan and Pakistan that matches Japan's international status,' according to the Japanese Foreign Ministry. At the time, Katsuya Okada, the foreign minister, said Japan was considering a new aid package for Afghanistan. The ministry's statement on Tuesday said that the 'containment of insurgencies is essential' to achieving security in Afghanistan and pledged that 'Japan will pave the way for the Afghans to take their own security responsibilities by such assistance as supporting the National Police.' Since hosting the first international development conference on Afghanistan in January 2002, Japan has provided $1.78 billion in civilian assistance to Afghanistan, according to Foreign Ministry documents. About half of the Japanese aid has gone toward reconstruction and infrastructure. 