The rise of that government created space for Japanese like Imoto and Sasakawa to get involved in the ethnic cease-fire efforts, and for Japan to become one of Myanmar's biggest foreign investors. Ichihara argues that competition with China has both propelled and inhibited Japan's support for democracy in Myanmar, where the military tolerated the rise of a semi-civilian government from 2010, partly in order to decrease its reliance on China. "But more due to the geopolitical contestation between Japan and China." "The importance of Myanmar for Japan is partially historical," says Maiko Ichihara, an expert on Japanese foreign policy at Hitotsubashi University in Tokyo and a visiting scholar at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
But Japan occupied Burma for the remainder of World War II, and Aung San turned against the Japanese. Both wanted to oust Burma's British colonial rulers. Japan traces its relations with the military back to the founding of Burma's army in 1941 by Suu Kyi's father, independence hero Gen. Japan has maintained good relations with Myanmar's military for decades, including periods when the ruling military junta was shunned and isolated by Western nations, including the U.S. Human rights advocates have criticized Maruyama for defending Myanmar's military from criticism and allegations of genocide against the Muslim Rohingya minority. Maruyama told the protesters in Burmese that Japan would "not ignore the voices of the people of Myanmar." Japan's foreign ministry says Ichiro Maruyama, Japan's ambassador to Myanmar, has been trying to persuade the military to release detained leaders, including Suu Kyi, and restore democratic rule.Īnti-coup protesters in Myanmar, aware of Japan's influence, recently gathered at its embassy and called for Japan's intervention against the coup. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi have been in touch about the coup.