In this file photo taken on July 31, 2022, a group of activists hold placards of Japanese citizen Toru Kubota, who is detained in Myanmar, during a rally in front of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Tokyo. (PHILIP FONG / AFP)
A Japanese ruling party lawmaker has met with Myanmar's leader Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, according to Myanmar state media, days after a Japanese documentary filmmaker was arrested while covering a protest in the Southeast Asian country.
Hiromichi Watanabe, a member of Japan's more powerful lower house of representatives for the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, was in Myanmar from Aug 7 to Aug 12, his office confirmed on Friday. It did not comment on the purpose of the trip.
READ MORE: Myanmar extends state of emergency for another 6 months
Tokyo has called for the release of filmmaker Toru Kubota, 26, who entered Myanmar on a tourist visa and was arrested on July 30 at a protest in Yangon. He faces charges of breaking an immigration law and encouraging dissent against the ruling military.
Myanmar has been witnessing demonstration since the military took over power last year. A Japanese freelance journalist was freed in Myanmar last year after initially being arrested and charged with spreading false news in covering protests. The authorities said his release was in recognition the two countries' close ties.
ALSO READ: Myanmar's Aung San Suu Kyi moved to prison
Myanmar state media reported Watanabe met Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, chairman of Myanmar's State Administration Council, in the capital Naypyitaw this week to discuss bilateral ties.