TOKYO(Reuters) -- Japan will send an advance team of military personnel to countries neighboring Iraq around Christmas, domestic media said on Friday, as a new poll showed over half of the public opposes sending the military to Iraq.

Media reports said around 10 air force personnel will travel to Kuwait and Qatarto prepare for the dispatch of a larger unit to the region expected in January.

The move comes on the heels of Tuesday's cabinet decision to send Japanese troops to Iraq, which opens the way for what is likely to be the nation's biggest and most dangerous overseas military mission since World War II.

The plan approved by the cabinet says up to 200 vehicles including armored vehicles, eight air force transport planes, two navy warships and two destroyers may be sent to Iraq.

The advance team of air force personnel will not take military planes, and instead are expected to travel by commercial airlines.

Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba told reporters the ministry had not made a decision on sending the advance team.

"We have not made such a decision," he said.

A poll by the ***Asahi Shimbun*** newspaper after the cabinet decision showed 55 percent of respondents were against the dispatch, while 34 percent said they supported sending Japanese troops to Iraq to assist in the reconstruction efforts.