Past the numerous izakaya bars and chain restaurants flanking Takadanobaba's Sakae-dori street, there's a simple brown building with a signboard reading "Swe Myanmar."

Although Swe Myanmar is one of many Myanmar restaurants in Takadanobaba, known to many as Tokyo’s “Little Yangon,” its owner, Than Swe, 56, is a foreign national who has been granted refuge in immigrant-averse Japan, where only one in 250 applicants are granted asylum status.

While Than Swe and his wife, Than Than Kyaing, 56, are happy to operate the restaurant, the business was more of a last resort than a lifelong desire.