Japan found its scoring touch to thrash Tajikistan 8-0 on Tuesday and stay on course for a place in the final qualifying round for the 2014 World Cup.
Japan had notched only three goals in its three previous games going into the match at Nagai Stadium, but it took just 11 minutes for Mike Havenaar to give the home side the lead in his first national team start, before Shinji Okazaki doubled the advantage eight minutes later.
Yuichi Komano and Shinji Kagawa scored two more before the first half was out, and Havenaar added another a minute after the restart as Alberto Zaccheroni's side threatened to run up a cricket score. Kengo Nakamura, Kagawa and Okazaki completed the rout to give Japan its biggest win since beating Uzbekistan by the same scoreline at the 2000 Asian Cup.