All eyes will be on new Nadeshiko Japan manager Asako Takakura and her newly assembled charges when Japan faces world champion United States on Thursday in the first game of a two-match friendly tour.
The 48-year-old Takakura, who led Japan to titles at the 2014 Under-17 Women's World Cup and the 2015 Asian U-19 Championship, called up five uncapped players in her first selection as the new era awaits the 2011 World Cup winners.
Takakura, the first female coach for the women's national team, was named Norio Sasaki's successor in April after the silver-medal winners in the 2012 London Games missed out on this summer's Rio de Janeiro Olympics.