Japanese drinks giant Kirin said Monday it will withdraw from Myanmar, after a failed bid to disentangle its operations from a joint venture with a junta-owned company after last year's coup. (france24.com)

U.N. member nations elected five countries to join the powerful U.N. Security Council today with no suspense or drama because all were unopposed — Ecuador, Japan, Malta, Mozambique and Switzerland. (staradvertiser.com)

Japan's immigration agency says the country granted refugee status to 74 foreigners last year, the largest number since record-keeping began in 1982. (NHK)

Japan will offer Myanmar residents who were given special permission to stay following last year's military coup in their homeland yearlong extensions instead of the current six-month renewals, the justice minister said. (Japan Today)

A yakuza leader and three Thai associates have been arrested in New York for allegedly conspiring to obtain surface-to-air missiles for groups in Myanmar using narcotics as a payment, the U.S. Department of Justice announced Thursday. (Nikkei)

Japan's top banks face the prospect of having to set aside billions of dollars in loss provisions for their exposure to Russia as the declining ruble and the financial turmoil there raise default risks. (Nikkei)

The Cambodian Minister of Foreign Affairs and appointed ASEAN Special Envoy on Myanmar, Deputy Prime Minister Prak Sokhonn, met with the Japan Special Envoy for national reconciliation in Myanmar and Chairman of the Nippon Foundation, Yohei Sasakawa, on Tuesday morning to discuss matters related to the ongoing crisis in Myanmar. (EAC News)

Japanese beverage company Kirin Holdings is set to exit its Myanmar operations after it concluded there is no hope of resolving a dispute with its military-backed partner a year after a military takeover plunged the Southeast Asian nation into turmoil, Nikkei has learned. (Nikkei)

Thousands of Japanese citizens took part in a march through Tokyo on Sunday in favour of a constitutional amendment. At the same time, there were protests in favour of the refugees from Myanmar and against the military coup that took place there. (Ruptly)

OSAKA – Pyae Lyan Aung, a Myanmar national soccer goalkeeper who refused to return home after protesting against the February military coup in his country, officially received a certificate of refugee status in Japan on Friday, the player and his lawyer said. (Japan Times)

Japan will grant asylum to a footballer from Myanmar’s national team who raised an anti-coup salute during a match outside Tokyo and refused to fly home, reports said Friday. (news18.com)

Japan's lower house adopted a resolution Tuesday condemning the Feb. 1 coup staged by the Myanmar military and urging the Southeast Asian country to return to democracy. (abs-cbn.com)

Japan will allow Myanmar residents to extend their stay for an additional six months as an emergency measure due to the unrest following the Feb. 1 military coup in the Southeast Asian country, Justice Minister Yoko Kamikawa said Friday. (Kyodo)

Japan will let Myanmar citizens remain in the country legally even after their visas expire, in response to deteriorating political conditions in the Southeast Asian nation following the February coup. (Nikkei)

Japan's Foreign Minister Motegi Toshimitsu has indicated that his ministry may consider halting the country's current economic assistance to Myanmar, whose military has been oppressing protesters. (NHK)

TOKYO -- Japan will consider cutting off all official development assistance to Myanmar, even for ongoing projects, if the situation there does not improve, Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi told Nikkei. (Nikkei)

A Japanese journalist who was detained in Myanmar has been released and returned to Japan. (NHK)

A Japanese freelance journalist in Myanmar who was jailed and charged with spreading false news or information that could cause public unrest will be freed by the country’s ruling junta as a gesture of friendship with Japan, a state television report said Thursday. (hindustantimes.com)

More than two and a half months have passed since the coup in Myanmar. Although other countries are responding to this situation, they have not been able to have a concrete impact toward stopping the bloodshed that is happening in Myanmar, sparking harsh criticism from observers like the BBC. (thediplomat.com)

Japan's government said Monday it is asking Myanmar to release a Japanese journalist who was arrested by security forces in its largest city of Yangon the previous day. (coastreporter.net)

The government has halted new aid to Myanmar in response to the coup there, Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi has said, but is stopping short of sanctions imposed by some nations on military and police commanders. (Japan Times)

Japan stayed perfect in World Cup qualifying by routing Mongolia 14-0 in Chiba. (abc.net.au)

Defense chiefs from a dozen countries, including Japan, released a statement Sunday condemning the bloodbath in Myanmar a day earlier, when at least 90 people — including several children — were killed after security forces opened fire on anti-coup protesters. (Japan Times)

Violence between security forces and protesters has threatened Myanmar's status as a hub for clothing manufacturing, with the Japanese parent of Uniqlo reporting two supplier factories have been set on fire in the latest unrest to rock the country's garment industry. (Nikkei)

A group of students in Japan has asked the country's government and lawmakers to support citizens of Myanmar protesting last month's military coup there. (NHK)