Japan is undoubtedly one of the best teams, and not only that, but in the World Cup I know they will do a good job, for now I think that the Asian teams have a great option, I don't know how the current Japanese team will be playing, but I only remember when Nakata was one of the most iconic players in Japan.
For now I have a lot of faith in this team, I don't know if you remember the 2002 World Cup they said that the team at that time had players in training who had seen the anime of super champions, so it was funny because many were waiting for plays from the series, but at that time the advertisements by Nike were very good, so the Japanese had many things to offer, now I imagine they have improved.
Do you mean Hidetoshi Nakata, if so. he had the status of the best Asian footballer in 1997, Nakata had played in the Serie A league, besides that there was Nakamura, Honda, actually there were many shining Japanese players.
Currently, several Japanese players are playing in several European clubs, Kyogo Furuhashi, Takumi Minamino, Daizen Maeda, and many others.
Although they don't play in very big clubs, but with experience playing in the European League, at least Japan has a big chance to win the 2023 Asian Cup.
If I'm not mistaken the 2002 World Cup, Japan - South Korea as the host.
But what made an impression on my memory at the world cup at that time was the South Korean player, Park Ji-sung, he played at Man United and Anh Jun-hwan who played in Serie A. they were able to take their squad to the semi-finals, although decorated with several controversy.