KatieM comments

I'm not sure if it's technically a branch or not, but in NZ we have a tertiary institute called IPU (Institute of the Pacific United) which belongs to the same network as International Pacific University in Okayama.

Extremely well said, AdamB. The conduct of some Japanese reporters in Chch has been sickening. I have seen them inside the police cordon tape filming, not to mention trespassing on private property and going right up onto peoples' front porches with their cameras. My (Japanese) boss informed me this morning that the reason Japanese citizens are so angry with NZ is because taking care of the Japanese families, showing them where their family members died, etc, seems to be last on the list of priorities of the rescue workers and city officials. OF COURSE IT IS!! They are still pulling body parts out of the rubble, for God's sake, and Japan is certainly not the only country that has lost citizens. And as for questioning NZ's building standards - we have some of the highest building standards in the world, which was why Christchurch sustained so little damage (comparatively) during the first 7.1 earthquake in September (which Japanese media barely bothered to report on at the time). They are saying the CTV building had 'cracks' after the first quake. Half the buildings in Kobe still have cracks from the 1995 quake!! I'm sure many of them wouldn't stand up to another big earthquake, but the government haven't bothered to do anything about them. It makes me sick that, in typical Japanese fashion, they are just looking for someone to blame.