AMONG the many contrasts between Scotland and Japan, their weekend opponents, the most striking is this: the core of the home squad play for the Sunwolves, the local Super Rugby franchise. Compare that reality to the visitors, who are split among 11 different clubs in five countries, and you get some idea of the difficulties Scotland's coaches face in communicating ideas.

According to Matt Taylor, one of Vern Cotter's assistants, that is why the training undertaken at BT Murrayfield last week was so important: "When you come back into camp the guys have been in a few different systems doing different things," he said. "It is a question of getting the accuracy and the connections and then making sure they execute it in a Scotland way. When you look at some of those Southern Hemisphere teams, who had not had much time together, some of their combinations struggled a bit.

"There were rusty bits – as there always are when you come together – but we will be looking to iron out those rusty bits and be at another level this week. When you are in a Test match environment every training session counts, it is not like a club team where you have weeks to get things right and build a season, you have to get things right straight away."

Part of the respect is that though Japan are new arrivals in the top 10 of World Rugby – one place below Scotland, as the coaches never tire of pointing out – they are a team on the rise and feel they are capable of going further before they host the World Cup themselves in three years.

There has been a consistency to their selection, with 16 of the current squad still there from the World Cup, many likely to feature in the starting XV. There are also 15 who regularly play together with the Sunwolves. On top of that they have the advantage of having a game under their belt.

What may, however, turn out to be crucial, is that for last weekend's game most of the big-name overseas players were rested – after they travelled to Japan the coaches decided not to inflict on them another journey to Vancouver and back, but to hold them in reserve for this week.

It was a strategy that came close to unravelling after Yoshiya Hosoda, the flanker winning his first cap, was sent off for a dangerous tackle 54 minutes into the game. Though Japan did manage to open out a nine-point lead, Canada fought back to score their fourth try – for all their enterprise, Japan managed only two – and were with inches of a match-winning fifth when Djustice Sears-Duru, the Glasgow Warriors prop, got over the line but could not ground the ball.

"They are similar to how the Sunwolves have been playing, they are quick to contact, they try to play a high-tempo game," Taylor noted. "There are a few similarities to how Japan played in the World Cup in some of their shapes and that they are trying to keep the ball in hand.

"They are kicking a wee bit more than they have in the past, so whether they keep that up we are not sure. In the World Cup they only kicked it five times against us but now they are averaging nine or 10 a game, a bit more than they have in the past.

"They are very good with the ball in hand, so the more we keep the ball and make them defend, the better it will be for us. They seem to be comfortable when they have the ball so it will be about us doing well when we have it and can exploit them."

The team had their first training session since arriving in the rain yesterday afternoon but are planning the week's main session will come today with Richie Gray, who had been in action for Castres in their Top14 wild card play-off, expected to take part after arriving late from France.

He is one of the handful who have some experience of the country, having captained the 2009 Under-20s when the Junior World Cup was staged in Japan. Taylor is another who has memories from that event, though from a different perspective.

"It was quite funny," he recalled. "I was with Australia and when we came in to Tokyo, Scottish Under 20s were coming out of the hotel as we were checking in, with Richie Gray and a few other guys I recognise.

"It is a great place Japan, very different culturally to a lot of other places we go in a rugby sense. It is the first time here for a lot of the guys so it has been an exciting few days.

"I don't think it will affect them, it is just something different. We went to Argentina a couple of years ago and that is different, too. As long as you concentrate during training and do the preparation, you are playing on a field like anywhere else in the world.

"It could be a positive thing. We went out to dinner and it was those little table barbecues and the guys really enjoyed it, saying to each other 'this is awesome'. It is not the same as going to France every year and getting used to it: different and nice."