Parliamentarians interested in Myanmar from Cambodia, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand are meeting for two days in Tokyo in a bid to build up pressure on the regime.

In a joint statement, they called for "the immediate release of Aung San Suu Kyi from house arrest and the unconditional release of all political prisoners."

The Nobel peace laureate has been under house arrest for most of the past 17 years. Her detention comes up for review Sunday.

The Tokyo conference is being attended by Sein Win, her cousin and her movement's prime minister-in-exile.

The lawmakers also "pointed out the importance of Japan's role in the problem of Myanmar."

Unlike Western countries, Japan has shunned sanctions against Myanmar although last year it backed efforts to bring its human rights record before the UN Security Council.

"Japan could be the country to host the first informal meeting of all these factions of the crisis to work toward a resolution," said Cambodian member of parliament Son Chhay.