Hanazono is all but sold out. Japan and Australia meet in Higashi-Osaka on 8 August in the first of a two-Test series, and the Japan Rugby Football Union has been down to its last remaining tickets for a fixture the two nations have played only seven times since 1975.
The history is lopsided. Australia have won every meeting, by 30 points in Sydney in 1975, by 68 in Lyon at the 2007 World Cup, by 33 in Yokohama in 2017. But the most recent instalment, at the National Stadium in Tokyo last year, finished 19-15. Four points. Japan led the resistance for most of it and never let the game drift out of reach.
Eddie Jones is now three years into his second spell in charge and has been unsentimental about where the team stands. Japan closed their Nations Championship southern leg with a 15-42 defeat to France in Tokyo on 18 July, in front of nearly 53,000 people, after beating Italy 27-10 and losing 20-36 to Ireland in Newcastle.
"We got beaten convincingly in two areas today," Jones said after the France match. "Firstly in the maul - they scored five of their six tries through their maul, and they convincingly won the battle in the air. With the shorter stature of our wingers, we have to find a better way to compete in that area. They are two great lessons for us."
He was not despondent about the effort. "I was pleased with the commitment of the players today. I thought they really stuck at it, played hard, played together and they didn't give up."
Captain Warner Dearns had made a similar diagnosis a week earlier after Ireland pulled clear late in Newcastle.
"We came out with a game plan, and I think we executed it pretty well in the first half," Dearns said. "In the second half we got a bit stuck in terms of how we controlled the game and let Ireland play the game they wanted to play. We're always looking to play into space, with speed and tempo to get into that space. Today it didn't quite work out for us."
The through-line of Japan's July was youth. Flyhalf Ryunosuke Ito and prop Sojiro Otsuka both still play university rugby and both started against France. Esei Haangana, Izi Sword and Shunsuke Uenobo all debuted in Tokyo. Michael Leitch, on 94 caps, came off the bench. Jones has built a squad shaped for the 2027 World Cup, not for August.
Australia arrive in a different kind of transition. Les Kiss took over from Joe Schmidt in July and named a 34-player group for the series with a single uncapped player, Reds centre Isaac Henry. Lukhan Salakaia-Loto returns after 45 Tests, Isaac Kailea replaces the retiring record-holder James Slipper at loosehead, and Harry Wilson continues as captain. Len Ikitau (ankle) and Tom Hooper (shoulder) were unavailable.
"Selection is always a challenging process, but as coaches we've looked to bring together a group based on form, cohesion and how we want to play the game," Kiss said. "It's been encouraging to see how tight they are as a group and how hard they work for each other and the gold jersey. The challenge now is for everyone to roll up their sleeves and find a new level of consistency."
Kiss has not pretended he is Schmidt. Asked how his approach differs, he said he was "a different personality in some ways to Joe's leadership" and added: "How that manifests, we'll find out. I'll just be me, driving what it is to be a new 'us'."
On Salakaia-Loto, who started rarely under Schmidt, Kiss said the recall followed "robust" discussions among the coaches. "He's worked hard ... he's ready. I want players to be themselves, bring their personalities to the fore. I want them to know our strength is in our diversity and who we are."
Australia have won two of their last 11 Tests, though the losses to Ireland and France in the Nations Championship were closer than the record implies. Japan have been reliable against Tier 2 sides and have not yet converted that into a Tier 1 scalp under Jones.
The squad left Sydney for Japan on 1 August. The second Test is at Queensland Country Bank Stadium in Townsville on 15 August. On a humid Osaka evening, in front of a full house, the four-point margin from Tokyo is the number both camps keep returning to.
