Nadeshiko Japan has fallen on harder times since the golden age when it won the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup and reached the final four years later, but the team remains Asia's best hope of success in Australia and New Zealand.
Japan will have to do it without Mana Iwabuchi, however, after the 30-year-old playmaker was left out of Futoshi Ikeda's squad for the tournament, where the former champion will play Spain, Costa Rica and Zambia in the opening round.
That leaves skipper Saki Kumagai as the only survivor of the 2011 triumph in Germany, where the defensive midfielder converted the winning penalty in the shootout against the United States that decided the title.