With the J. League preparing for its earliest-ever opening to a season, teams around the league are busy putting in the work ahead of the Feb. 23 kickoff.

Cerezo Osaka will only have had a 40-day break by the time they contest the annual curtain-raising Fuji Xerox Super Cup with J. League champions Kawasaki Frontale at Saitama Stadium on Feb. 10, having won the Emperor's Cup final on New Year's Day. But with the World Cup in Russia this summer taking a sizeable chunk out of the domestic calendar, teams have had little option but to begin their warm-weather training camps earlier than usual.

Frontale, who pickpocketed Kashima Antlers on the final day of last season to claim their first-ever championship, are currently in Okinawa. The club has made some eye-catching moves in the transfer market so far, bringing back striker Yoshito Okubo from FC Tokyo and signing Yokohama F. Marinos livewire Manabu Saito.