Japanese journalist Toru Kubota says he is grateful to be back home after being freed by Myanmar's junta in an amnesty releasing almost 6,000 prisoners.

Kubota was detained on July 30 while filming a protest against the military, which seized power from the democratically elected government in a February 2021 coup.

"I would like to express my gratitude. I was sentenced to ten years. I have spent three and a half months in prison and I was released so quickly thanks to supporters in Japan, the press and government officials," he told the media on his arrival at Tokyo's Haneda airport.