Japan's special adviser to the prime minister on human rights issues has expressed willingness to urge companies in the nation to identify and address human rights risks in their supply chains, amid growing awareness of the issue in the global corporate sector.
In an interview Wednesday, Gen Nakatani, who took the newly created post in early November, acknowledged that there are concerns about human rights issues in China and other countries and said that Japan will work closely with like-minded nations to back international efforts to protect basic human rights.
"Japan has been under intense scrutiny over how we protect human rights at the government, corporate and individual levels," said Nakatani, a former defense minister.