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Why did Japan consider Burma strategically important during World War II?

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Map showing the height of Japanese territorial expansion in 1942 during World War II, with a large hatched area covering much of East and Southeast Asia and the western Pacific, including parts of China, Korea, Southeast Asia, the Philippines, and numerous Pacific islands. Japan's home islands are shaded in solid red, while the expansion area stretches from India and Burma in the west to the Aleut — Burma Railway In World War II Japanese military forces quickly took advantage of their success at Pearl Harbor to expand their holdings throughout the Pacific and westward toward India. This expansion continued relatively unchecked until mid-1942. Then, after losing the Battle of Midway, Japan was forced on the defensive.

During World War II, Japan viewed the occupation of Burma as a key strategic objective for two primary reasons:

Severing Supply Lines: The Burmese city of Lashio served as the southern terminus of the Burma Road, which was the primary logistical route for resupplying Chinese Nationalist forces during the Sino-Japanese War. Japan believed that by capturing this route and depriving Chiang Kai-shek’s forces of essential supplies, they could easily complete their conquest of China.1
Threatening British India: Occupying Burma positioned Japanese armies on the border of British India. Japan intended to capture the Indian region of Assam to use it as a base for an insurrection against British rule, led by the Japanese-backed Indian revolutionary Subhas Chandra Bose.1

To support these strategic goals and maintain their military presence in the region, the Japanese constructed the Burma Railway as an overland alternative after Allied naval forces threatened their sea-lanes.1