The team from the Land of the Rising Sun have worked their way into the hearts of the local fans and are the crowd favourites.
Japan finished a creditable third last year and are once again expected to give the other teams a run for their money.
The hard running Japanese have used the Sultan of Johor Cup to build a strong team for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and one can expect Japan to be no pushovers this year.
Last year in the playoff for third place Japan shocked England 4-1 in the shootout after a 2-2 draw in regulation time. Japan had also beaten the English 2-1 in the round robin match.