The Dutch, who will be looking for vast improvement on their laboured 2-0 victory over Denmark on Monday, still have fresh memories of their shock at being outplayed by the Japanese for an hour in a friendly last year.
The Dutch ultimately ran out 3-0 winners in that match in Enschede and a similar result in on Saturday at the Moses Mabhida stadium would suit them fine as they look to book a place in the round of 16.
"The first hour of that match Japan was in charge but finally we won," Dutch playmaker Wesley Sneijder told reporters.
"Our coach said that was the only match our opponents really made it difficult for us, so let that be the only one."
The Netherlands' most potent weapon on the wing, Arjen Robben, has been training on his own this week as he continues his recovery from a hamstring injury and is highly unlikely to be risked.
Japan's win over Cameroon in Bloemfontein on Monday ended a miserable run of results for Takeshi Okada's team and so he will again forgo the traditional short passing game for a more compact defensive style.
"It doesn't matter what anyone thinks, I have to pick players that are going to win us three points." Okada told the Kyodo news agency.
"The Dutch themselves think their strength lies in attack so what we need to do is try to wind them up and frustrate them," he said.
