Japan coach Zico on Sunday thanked the fans who turned out in their thousands to watch the national team train at their final camp before leaving for Germany for the World Cup finals.
A boy watches as Japan midfielder Shinji Ono juggles the ball during the national team's training camp in Fukushima.
The number of spectators since practice began Thursday peaked during Sunday's morning session as a crowd of 23,000, almost three times the population of Naraha where the camp is being held, packed the J-Village training facilities.
"There are people coming from all over the place to show their support here and that is obviously very pleasing and we are grateful," Zico told reporters.
"It makes training feel that extra bit special for the players and more importantly gives them a sense of responsibility."
"If no one turned up at all, it wouldn't feel like there was much point and training would be a lot duller for sure," added the Brazilian coach.
On the team front, defender Makoto Tanaka missed the day's afternoon session after pulling out of practice in the morning with a sore hamstring.
Japan wraps up the camp on Wednesday before leaving for the World Cup in Germany on Friday.
The Asian champion is to play host Germany and Malta in warmup matches for the finals, which kick off on June 9.
Japan, which will be appearing in its third straight World Cup, plays Australia in first-round Group F on June 12 before taking on Croatia and reigning world champion Brazil.
