The Burmese community in Japan has condemned the Japanese government and ministry of defense for accepting four Burmese soldiers to take part in training at Japan’s military facilities.

Japan’s Minister of Defense, Nobuo Kishi, has confirmed that the country will accept four Burmese military cadets will partake in multi-national training drills during a parliament committee session on April 26.

Burmese expatriates in Japan took to social media to demand that the Japanese government scraps the plan, saying that history would not look favorably on the decision and that such a move would earn the Government of Japan the ire of the Burmese people.

Myint Swe, a Burmese activist in Japan, told DVB that he will protest against the Japanese government by working with Japanese NGOs and the Japanese people to raise awareness that the decision would enable the junta to commit atrocities using the money of Japanese taxpayers.

Although Japan’s parliament condemned the coup in 2021, some members continue to maintain friendly relations with the Burmese military.

Among, founder and chairman of the Japan-Myanmar Association and former MP, Hideo Watanable, an experienced politician who still enjoys sway amongst Japan’s ruling elite. Aside from brokering a number of Japan’s largest trade deals with Burma, Watanabe has used media space to praise the virtues of military rule over democracy.

DVB was told that a Burmese professor at the International University of Japan’s Department of International Relations had collaborated with Watanabe and the junta in devising a scheme aimed at sending military personnel to Japan under scholarship programs.

The Japanese government has previously accepted around 30 Burmese cadets to partake in training at the Japan National Defense University, receiving ten in December 2021 alone.