Japan was beaten by England 5-3 in a penalty shootout after a goalless 90 minutes in the round of 16 at the Under-17 World Cup in India on Tuesday.
Yukinari Sugawara, Taisei Miyashiro and Soichiro Kozuki scored for Group E runner-up Japan, which was aiming to reach the quarterfinals for the third time, while England converted all five of its penalty kicks to advance.
After the teams shared two goals apiece in the shootout, England goalkeeper Curtis Anderson denied Japan midfielder Hinata Kida to help the Group F leader secure a last-eight berth along with European powerhouse Spain and Asian champion Iran.
"It almost went as planned," said Japan coach Yoshiro Moriyama.
"What didn't go as planned was that we weren't able to find the back of the net. I was moved by the players, who fought hard and did their utmost," he said.