The Minister of Foreign Affairs is confident a New Zealand anti-whaling activist being held in a Japanese prison is receiving good treatment.
Pete Bethune is facing five charges after boarding a Japanese whaling ship in the Southern Ocean and attempting to make a citizen's arrest of its captain in February this year.
Mr Bethune, the skipper of protest boat Ady Gil, is due to go on trial later this week.
Foreign Affairs Minister Murray McCully says New Zealand diplomats in Japan will be monitoring the trial just like any high-profile case.
Mr McCully says the New Zealand embassy has to allow Japan's legal system to operate but is continuing to provide support to Mr Bethune.
The minister says he receives reports after regular consular visits and all of them suggest Mr Bethune is being treated adequately.