The World Cup draw could certainly have been kinder to Japan, but that is not to say Takeshi Okada's side is guaranteed to fall at the first hurdle next summer.
Japan was grouped with the Netherlands, Denmark and Cameroon in Friday's draw in Cape Town, at first glance putting a serious crimp on the manager's ambitions of escaping the first round, let alone reaching the semifinals.
Yet there is no need for panic. While Okada's men could quite conceivably lose all three games, there is also no reason why they should not be able to rack up the points they need to progress.