Coach: Zico
Tactics: Hard-working and with a sprinkling of flair.
Star Player: Hidetoshi Nakata - direct midfielder with an eye for goal.
Verdict: Brazilian legend Zico has installed a degree of flair to the side but good organisation remains their key strength. Hard working and disciplined they will prove stiff opponents. A lack of genuine quality means they will do well to advance past the group stage, however.
Ten things you didn’t know about Japan
1. Japan defeated Cuba in the World Baseball Classic this year to be recognised as the best baseball team in the world
2. The Japanese are very polite; ten days after a $5.4m bank robbery, the Fukutoku Bank received a note from the robbers saying: “Thank you very much for the bonus. We can live on this loot for life.”
3. Never stick your chopsticks upright in your bowl of rice, it’s the traditional Japanese way of offering food to the souls of the dead
4. Japan is the world’s 60th largest country, made up of over 6,000 islands and 70% of it is mountainous
5. A population of nearly 127 million makes Japan the 10th most populous country in the world, equal to the UK, France and Denmark combined.
6. Japan has the world’s oldest surviving monarchy. The first recorded emperor was Ojin who reigned from 270 to 310 AD although legend has it that the very first was Emperor Jinmu, 1000 years earlier.
7. Upon reaching the age of 60, Japanese men are presented with a red kimono which symbolises the fact that he is no longer an adult but an old man and can shun the responsibilities of youth.
8. The country’s Shinkansen bullet train network runs at speeds of up to 186mph and are usually on time to within the second!
9. Japanese students stand up and bow when their teacher enters the room and say’ “thank you for teaching us” at the end of the lesson.
10. Legend has it that the Mitsubishi Starion, a 1980s rival for the Ford Mustang got its name as a result of the Japanese mispronunciation of ‘stallion’. Mitsubishi was also forced to rename its ‘Pajero’ SUV in certain countries as it is the Spanish word for an onanist.
