Kazu Miura and former Czech international Pavel Hovarth scored in the second half Sunday to lead Vissel Kobe to a 3-1 win over Cerezo Osaka in the J. League's first division.
Mitsunori Yabuta opened the scoring for Kobe just after seven minutes but Teruaki Kurobe pulled the visitors even shortly after the break.
Miura rifled home to give Kobe the lead before Hovarth settled the matter with a goal late in injury time.
In Sunday's other match, Juninho scored a late equalizer as Kawasaki Frontale returned to the top division after a five-year absence with a 1-1 draw against Kashiwa Reysol.
Yoshiteru Yamashita scored in the 79th minute for Kashiwa but Juninho fired home from close range to pull the visitors even.