Authorities in Myanmar detained a Japanese journalist in Yangon on Sunday night, the Japanese government said on Monday, adding that it was trying to release them.
The Burmese BBC quoted a witness as saying that independent journalist Yuki Kitazumi was picked up from home and taken into custody by troops on Sunday night. He was asked to raise both hands and was taken to a car, he said.
A Japanese government spokesman described the journalist as a man in his forties, without naming him.
“We are looking for his speedy release from Myanmar and we are trying to ensure the safety of Japanese nationals,” Katsunobu Kato, the chief secretary of the cabinet, told a news conference, adding that the government was looking for details about the circumstances surrounding the journalist’s detention.
A spokesman for the junta did not respond to calls for comment.
Kitazumi runs a media production company, Yangon Media Professionals, and was a journalist for the Nikkei business daily, according to his Facebook page and online media interviews.
He was previously arrested in February while covering protests against the February 1 coup, but was released shortly thereafter.
According to the activist group of the Association for Assistance to Political Prisoners, 737 people have been killed by security forces since the coup and 3,229 remain in detention.
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