The aim of this paper is to explain features of the revised Achievement Standards in Japanese in the National Certificate of Educational Achievement (NCEA) Level 1, and examine issues arising from the new assessments. NCEA was introduced gradually from 2002 and brought about significant changes to New Zealand's educational qualification framework, including a shift from norm-referenced assessments to standards-based assessments. Recent changes include the introduction of the New Zealand Curriculum (NZC), and its alignment with NCEA. These changes have impacted on the way in which student language skills are assessed in the newly established learning area "Learning Languages"; Japanese language assessments at secondary school are no exception. This study identifies some issues associated with the quality of external examination papers, such as insufficient proofreading and lengthy reading passages, and recommends that the examination setting process undergo a robust revision to minimize factors that could potentially affect the reliability and credibility of the examination.

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In Japan New Public Management (NPM) tends to be understood as 'small government', but is it so? This study uses two measures, 'government expenditures' and 'the number of public servants' to examine the size of the New Zealand government from 1986 to 1999 which is said to be 'typical NPM'. It also examines the size of the Japanese government compared to New Zealand. The study finds the size of the New Zealand government has been reduced from 1986 to 1999 in terms of 'government expenditures' and 'the number of public servants'. But 'the number of public servants' has to be treated with special caution, due to its definition. The study also finds the size of the Japanese government is smaller than the New Zealand government overall. This means special caution must be taken when the size of government is discussed in Japan because the Japanese government is already small by international standards.

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The purpose of this paper is to compare financial literacy levels of high school students between New Zealand and Japan using data which was collected in September and October, 2012, from five high schools at Waikato region in New Zealand. The authors used Financial Fitness for Life Theme Tests (FFFL tests) for our research, which were developed by William B. Walstad, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, and Ken Rebeck, St. Cloud State University in 2003, who have been foreign coresearchers in our research project. FFFL tests focus on measuring students' personal financial literacy. The NZ version of the tests is based on the original US version, but the Japanese version has some differences of test contents from the US version, because the financial system and institutions are different between Japan and the United States. Therefore, it is difficult to compare properly the test results between New Zealand students and Japanese students unless those test questions are excluded from the analysis. Then the authors compare the test results focusing on their similarities and differences between the two countries. Based on the analysis of students' personal financial literacy, the authors propose that personal financial education should be introduced as early as possible in elementary school in New Zealand and Japan.

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The aim of this paper is to investigate the origin of Maori pa(fortified village) from the viewpoint of kumara(sweet potato) which is considered to be one of the principal food for Maori people. First, I present the outline of the previous research concerning kumara and pa. Second, factors related to kumara cultivation such as claimate, soil, and etc. are examined. Third, technology or art concerning kumara cultivation will be considered. Forth, characteristics of kumara as a food will be investigated. Finally, based on the above mentioned characteristics related to kumara, I will frame a hypothesis and try to demonstrate the hypothesis as follows; that is, kumara cultivation invites people to kumara land, and the population there increases, as a result there happens shortage of kumara, therefore, conflicts as to acquisition of kumara garden among the tribes concerned break out, and each tribe takes necessary measures to protect the people and property and begins construction of fortified villages, thus pa originates in the kumara land among others in the northern part of North Island, Aotearoa where provides suitable field for kumara cultivation. As a coclusion, my premise from kumara cultivation to pa construction is proved, I think. That is to say, the origin of Maori pa is directory and closely related to kumara cultivation.

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In 2011, New Zealand and Scotland held their parliamentary elections, in which the incumbent parties, the National Party and the Scottish National Party respectively, held on to power. The two countries share the mixed-member proportional representation in their electoral system. The New Zealand National Party came short of winning the majority of seats while the SNP enjoyed the feat, forming a majority government. This happened despite the fact that the New Zealand Nationals in fact captured a high percentage of votes than the SNP. It is because the Scottish electoral system sets 8 different regions in each of which proportional representation of various parties is aimed for. The present electoral system was endorsed in the referendum in New Zealand in November 26, 2011. However, given that New Zealand has long-standing natural regions such as Otago and Waikato, the Scottish style would be a possible alternative choice to circumvent the visible shortcomings of New Zealand's ongoing method. They are, for example, the secret conferences and wrangles for a party winning the largest number of seats to go through so to form and maintain a government.

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