If a country's success was judged on determination and pride, Japan would have already won the World Cup.

Unfortunately for the Cherry Blossoms, they have not had and will probably never have their name etched on the Webb Ellis trophy, world rugby's holy grail.

Instead, they hold the dubious honour of having received the heaviest beating in World Cup history.

That defeat came in 1995, when on June 4, they were put to the sword (145-17) by a second string New Zealand side with debutant Marc Ellis running in six tries.

That humbling at the Free State Stadium in Bloemfontein clearly hurt Japanese pride and their efforts to catch up with the world's elite sides have been building ever since.

Attempts by the JRU to promote the national team were massively stepped up following the 1999 World Cup - a tournament in which Japan again lost all three pool matches - and the JRU is counting the cost with a reported debt of 400 million yen (£2m).

For that to be cleared, a decent World Cup is a must - and coach Shogo Mukai will be hoping his team can at least avoid finishing bottom of pool B, which also includes France, Scotland, Fiji and the USA.

Having already achieved a considerable milestone with a 155-3 win over Chinese Taipei in Tokyo in July 2002 - the biggest-ever Test victory margin - Japan are determined to make their mark this time around.

But they face a huge step up in class. Only time will tell whether they are ready to compete with the world's elite.

Squad: Masao Amino, Ryota Asano, Shin Hasegawa, Keiji Hirose, Junichi Hojyo, Takeomi Ito, Hajime Kiso, George Konia, Koichi Kubo, Toru Kurihara, Tsutomu Matsuda, Andrew Miller, Takuro Miuchi, Yukio Motoki, Hideki Namba, Daisuke Ohata, Naoya Okubo, Hirotoki Onozawa, Adam Parker, Reuben Parkinson, Yuya Saito, Masaaki Sakata, Yuji Sonoda, Hiroyuki Tanuma, Masahiko Toyoyama, Takashi Tsuji, Yasunori Watanabe, Masahito Yamamoto, Ryo Yamamura, Takashi Yoshida.