On the day of Myanmar's military coup in February, Aung Soe Moe, a first secretary at the country's embassy in Tokyo, felt that his nation was again descending into a dark era of dictatorship, international isolation and poverty.
Ambassador Soe Han briefed him and other embassy staff about the situation and instructed them to focus on their duties, telling them to consider it business as usual for civil servants.
Recalling Myanmar's suffering after the last putsch in 1988, Aung Soe Moe said, "My personal feeling was that we went back to the dark old age with no peace and human rights — a country ruled by terror and weapons — and that we can no longer see a bright future for our country."