J. League second-division minnows Kyoto Sanga set up a historic Emperor's Cup final with J2 champion FC Tokyo after scalping Yokohama F. Marinos 4-2 in extra time on Thursday.
No J2 team had ever reached the final on New Year's Day.
Substitutes Yuya Kubo and Yoshiaki Komai scored in the second half of extra time from 2-2 for Kyoto, which previously lifted the cup in 2002 with Gert Engels in charge.