Thousands of people took to the streets in Tokyo on Wednesday in protest against the military coup in Myanmar and called for the international community to stand beside the country's detained civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

"Free Burma. Free Aung San Suu Kyi," protestors chanted in front of the Foreign Ministry in Tokyo, as they held up photographs of Suu Kyi and posters with messages written in English and Japanese.

People protest against the military coup in Myanmar in front of the Foreign Ministry in Tokyo on Feb. 3, 2021. (Kyodo)

"The response from the international community is important. We would like the Japanese government to voice its opinion more," said Kyaw Kyaw Soe, a senior member of the Union of Myanmar Citizen Association and one of the organizers of the rally.

He said he handed a written request to an official of the ministry's Southeast and Southwest Asian Affairs Department.

The Tokyo-based group requested that the Japanese government use its "political, diplomatic and economic power" to restore democracy in Myanmar, also known as Burma.

"The military takeover has made it difficult for people who want to return to Myanmar from Japan to actually go back," Kyaw Kyaw Soe said. "I think they took our freedom away from us."

Over 2,000 people joined the rally in the Japanese capital after organizers urged people from Myanmar to gather in protest on social media.

Khin Hnin Aye, who has lived in Japan for over 20 years, took a late night bus from Ishikawa Prefecture, central Japan, to join the rally.

"I'm worried about my home country, and worried especially about the young people there," she said. "I want people in Japan to know about what is happening in Myanmar and lend a hand."

The Myanmar military seized power in a coup on Monday. Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi expressed "serious concerns" about the situation and urged the release of Suu Kyi and other members of her National League for Democracy.


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