Japanese journalist freed from Myanmar prison vows to tell story

Rodney I think you would find that reporting facts or truth is treated by the junta as rebellion.

My waiter in a Bangkok restaurant last week was an 18 year old boy.

He had fled Myanmar with his family.

Missed the chance to go to university as his international scholarship was cancelled.

Not allowed after 8pm.

Two men traveling on a motorcycle means being arrested.

So many nightmare stories.

Their dreams have been extinguished

Journalists should tell the facts and not instigate rebellion and insurgency that leads to death, instability and misery.

He had been sentenced to 10 years in prison for allegedly breaking immigration law

Well, here in Japan, you would get a death sentence for overstaying you visa (a.k.a. death by unknown cause while in detention center for an indeterminate amount of time).

I just watched his FCCJ interview on You Tube, and it is very interesting. I see some posters here are being critical of Kubota san, but I would urge them to take a fresh look at his press conference with an open mind. To me, it seems he was just doing his job as a journalist getting information from a sadly little reported part of the world to a wider audience. What we do with that information is up to us, but I appreciate a journalist who takes risks to bring it to us.

"A graduate of Japan's Keio University with a master’s degree from the University of the Arts London, Kubota has done work for Yahoo! News Japan, Vice Japan and Al Jazeera English." Smart guy... But he entered on a tourist visa!!!!

Sorry, I wish to amend the comment that the practice in Myanmar of using ‘cheap labor’ is incorrect.

I should have stated that they use ‘slave labor’

Speaks volumes that he's at the FCCJ.

"Japan is being looked to as a place of hope," Kubota says. By whom? Japan doesn't welcome immigrants like most advanced countries. That's a fact that's undeniable. So is Kubota dreaming? I think so.

And when you report don't forget to tell how Japan is complicit by educating the junta's officers at Japan's defense academy with Japanese taxes.

"...Japanese journalist freed from Myanmar prison vows to tell story."

Well, you are a Journalist after all.

Very good for him, stay in Japan and out of trouble in dangerous countries..

Kubota urged the Japanese government to do more to end human rights abuses in Myanmar.

Bad idea, Japan has many domestic problems to interfere in affairs of other countries..

He also said Japan could do more to welcome refugees from Myanmar and other nations. Last year, Japan accepted only 74 people as refugees, according to the Japan Association for Refugees.

Another much worse and dangerous idea for Japan..

Unfortunately, the Japanese government along with Japan Inc see Myanmar as a place for cheap labor and an opportunity to make money.

Never mind that the military is killing, torturing and imprisoning it’s own people eh?

Good to see he's out and able tell his story as well as spread information about the situation in Myanmar outside of its borders.