Thu Sep 27, 11:09 PM ET

TOKYO - Japan will decide whether to suspend humanitarian aid for Myanmar after investigating the killing of a Japanese photographer during anti-government protests, the chief cabinet secretary said on Friday.

Japan's Foreign Ministry said on Thursday that 50-year-old photographer Kenji Nagai was shot dead in Yangon. Pictures smuggled out of the country showed him taking photos with a small camera even as he lay dying on a street near Sule Pagoda, a focus of the protests in the capital.

"We will urge the Myanmar government to find out the truth about his death," Chief Cabinet Secretary Nobutaka Machimura told a news conference. "At this stage, we have not decided to suspend grant aid."

Machimura, who is also the chief government spokesman, added it was not clear whether the shooting was on purpose or at close range, as reported by some Japanese media.

Nagai is the first foreign victim of the protests that began as sporadic marches against fuel price hikes but have swelled over the past month into mass demonstrations against 45 years of military rule in the former Burma.

Foreign journalists have generally been barred entry into the country in recent days.

Japan will only decide about imposing sanctions on Myanmar after watching responses from the international community including the U.N. Security Council, Machimura said.

"With respect to the issue of sanctions, we would like to monitor discussions at the U.N. Security Council," he said.

Japan has in the past been criticized for not taking a hard line on Myanmar's military government.

Tokyo has withheld new aid to the country since democracy activist Aung San Suu Kyi was detained in 2003, but still funds emergency requirements including health projects.

There are 615 Japanese nationals and 74 Japanese companies in Myanmar, Machimura said on Thursday.