Japan failed to impress in their first warm-up ahead of the World Cup after being held by Venezuela at the Kyushu Sekiyu Dome.
Japan coach Takeshi Okada had drafted Kashima Antlers midfielder Mitsuo Ogasawara and FC Tokyo full-back Yuhei Tokunaga into his line-up but the hosts faced tough resistance from the South American visitors, who applied plenty of pressure throughout the encounter.
For their part Japan, who finished a week-long training camp on Sunday, defended well but lacked a cutting edge up front.
Ogasawara, playing his first international since the 2006 World Cup, tested keeper Leandro Morales after quarter of an hour with a shot from the edge of the box following Kengo Nakamura's pass in the most significant action of the opening 45 minutes.
Japan forward Yoshito Okubo fired wide when presented with an opening after the break before Okada introduced forward Sota Hirayama and full-back Yuichi Komano in a bid to break the deadlock.
However, the hosts could not penetrate a resilient Venezuela side and the game ended goalless.
"It was a pity that we couldn't win," said Okada.
"We fixed some problems and played better in the second half. That has made me feel that we can move on to the East Asian Championship with confidence.
"On top of that, I was able to look at some new players. Overall, I am pretty satisfied with this game."
Venezuela coach Cesar Farias was pleased with the result, adding: "I think we played according to our plan, which was to nullify the speed of Japan's attack with pressure on the ball and we held the initiative in the game.
"But Japan has a strong defence and we were unable to threaten their goal, as I had expected."
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