The 2007 J-League All-Star game might have thrown up a few challenges for those English commentators still fond of throwing about hackneyed clichés when describing football from parts of the world other than England.

In Thailand, I watched on TV as Manchester United battled to a 2-2 draw against a Urawa side missing its Asian Cup contingent, and like anyone familiar with Japanese football, I couldn't help but laugh as guest commentator Jeremy Walker tried desperately to smooth over some of the gaffes from his co-commentator, whose identity unfortunately escaped me.

While Walker retains close links to Urawa - he penned the homepage to Urawa's English language website, it was clear that his co-commentator was more than taken aback by Japanese football, or so it seemed, as every well-placed pass or piece of decent ball control was met with a gasp of astonishment and an admission that he was "surprised by the high level of Urawa's play. Our commentator in question would have been calling for an oxygen mask if he witnessed the All-Star game, where four of the five goals were scored through headers.

The fact that only Kazuki Ganaha managed to score with his feet during the All-Star game cast my mind back to Japan's disappointing Asian Cup campaign. For all their obvious talent, Japanese players at the Asian Cup seemed unwilling to shoot. 

Long gone are the days when Japanese players were simply brushed aside by brusque defenders. Naohiro Takahara had no trouble finding the net for Eintract Frankfurt in the Bundesliga last season, while Shunsuke Nakamura shrugged off claims that he was too fragile for the Scottish Premier League to claim the Player Of The Year crown. In the J-League too, youngsters like Robert Cullen and Mike Havenaar employ a mixture of technique and physique, while the likes of Hiroshima striker Hisato Sato and veteran Kobe man Yoshito Okubo possess both the pace and the wiles to slice through opposition defences.  

All of this begs the question: why aren't the Blue Samurai raining goals in on their opposition? The first hint of an answer probably comes with the striking personnel favoured at the Asian Cup. While Takahara is undoubtedly Japan's number one striker, he turned in some lukewarm performances in South-East Asia, and when the powerful Frankfurt striker is not firing, Japan usually struggle. Lanky JEF United striker Seiichiro Maki started on occasion, but generally Gamba Osaka midfielder Yasuhito Endo started in the hole behind Takahara, when surely Hiroshima's Sato or Albirex Niigata man Kisho Yano would have been better options.

Endo, at least, is a capable sharp-shooter from long range, demonstrated by his free-kick against Vietnam. So too is Kengo Nakamura, but he seemed to defer to his more famous namesake Shunsuke every time he received the ball. Perhaps the two Nakamura's were put off by the sight of Gamba Osaka defender Akira Kaji firing the ball into the crowd with monotonous regularity with attempted crosses, while JEF United midfielder Naotake Hanyu combined an astonishing miss in the opening match against Qatar by thumping the crossbar with an unstoppable drive in the third/fourth playoff defeat to Korea Republic.

Perhaps Hanyu was put off by his inexplicable miss in the opening game, but perhaps there is also some truth to the notion that Japanese players are concerned by the loss of face brought about by a missed shot at goal. Perhaps it's a cultural thing? While I'm loathe to add to some of the ill-conceived misconceptions bandied about in regard to Asian football, there certainly seemed to be a difference in attitude between Australia - whose legion of foreign stars at times employed a shoot-on-sight policy, and Japan, whose intricate build-up play was rarely rewarded. Japan, it appeared, were a team in search of the perfect goal.

The All-Star game seemed to reinforce that notion. Plenty of intricate build-up play in midfield, plenty of intelligent runs down the flanks, plenty of crosses - four headed goals. Nevermind that Jubilo Iwata veteran Masashi Nakayama opened the scoring by heading into his own net, he made up for that goal by scoring with a header at the other end later in the match. Indeed the other goalscorers arguably underlined Japan's goal-scoring problems at the Asian Cup - Hisato Sato, Kazuki Ganaha and Yoshito Okubo were all mentioned as potential Asian Cup players, yet only the free-scoring Sato made the squad, and he was used sparingly as a substitute.    

The current top scorers in the J-League make for telling reading. The top three goal-scorers are all Brazilian, Sato and Okubo are locked on nine goals with yet more Brazilians in Bare and Juninho, Norwegian Frode Johnsen continues to find the net for Nagoya, while Shimizu S-Pulse place most of their faith in Korean striker Cho Jae-Jin.

I once watched FC Tokyo spend at least half an hour on long-range shooting practice, before Norio Suzuki and Yuta Baba scored with two stupendous long-range strikes at Nihondaira Stadium. For all their intelligent movement and intricate build-up play in midfield, perhaps some good old fashioned shooting practice is also in order for Japan, if they are to ultimately make a greater mark on the international scene.