Toru Kubota was sentenced by the court in Yangon's Insein prison on Wednesday, a diplomat at Japan's embassy in Myanmar said, adding that Kubota's trial for violating immigration law was "still continuing".

Kubota, 26, was detained near an anti-government rally in Yangon in July along with two Myanmar citizens.

He was initially charged under a law that criminalises encouraging dissent against the military, and with breaching immigration charges.

The dissent charge carries a maximum three-year jail term and has been widely used in the crackdown on opposition to the coup last year.

According to a profile on FilmFreeway, Kubota has previously made documentaries on Myanmar's Muslim Rohingya minority and "refugees and ethnic issues in Myanmar".

Myanmar's junta has clamped down on press freedoms, arresting reporters and photographers, as well as revoking broadcasting licences.