An upgraded Tauranga Hockey Centre will take on an international flavour with the Black Sticks announcing they are heading to Mount Maunganui for a three-test summer series against Japan.

The tests played on March 12, 13 and 15 between the sixth-ranked Black Sticks and 14th-ranked Japanese is part of the Kiwis build-up to the 2014 World Cup in May.

The Black Sticks will play three tests against Japan in Mount Maunganui in March.

Following the team's silver medal at the World League Final last month, the test series against the Japanese will give players a chance to get some more game time before they take on the best in the world in Holland.

'It's a big six months of hockey and this Japan series will help us prepare for that. As a team we gained a lot from last month's World League Final, and we will be looking to build on that,” says head coach Colin Batch.

Tauranga Hockey Association general manager Clyde du Toit is thrilled to have test matches coming his way and believes that the passionate hockey community in the Bay of Plenty will come along to support the Black Sticks.

During the last two year's Tauranga Hockey Association has significantly upgraded its Blake Park facilities with new world-class turfs and improved lighting.

"The final independent testing of the lighting was done on Wednesday night and I was there at 11 o'clock and it absolutely looked spectacular," says du Toit.

"The lighting is a huge improvement from what we had before.

"Plus, we now have electronic scoreboards on both of our turfs which will make a big difference for the spectators and the players during the season."

On March 12 and 13 games will be at 7pm and at 2pm on March 15. The gates will be open three hours beforehand for a curtain raiser.