Sun, surf and sandy beaches. Sounds like a dream lifestyle, and former Kyoto Sanga striker has opted for it - sort of.

Tahara was reputedly a target for A-League club Adelaide United, but the temperamental striker - whose athletic physique can sometimes be categorised under the heading "portly" - has turned his back on a potential move to the City of Churches, to sign with J2 club Shonan Bellmare.

The seasiders finished fifth in a 15-team J2 last year, but having added three more clubs to the mix this season, Shonan - for whom Hidetoshi Nakata once turned out - could once again find promotion a tough ask.

Tahara's decision may have had something to do with the fact that Shonan will feature in a gruelling 51-game season in J2 this season, compared to Australia's revamped 28-game A-League. 

More likely, though, it has much to do with a Japanese reticence to move overseas.

Certainly Japanese players are moving abroad in an ever-increasing number. But they're doing so to major European clubs like VfL Wolfsburg, or they're moving at a young age, as Catania striker Takayuki Morimoto did.

The mere prospect of a "nice lifestyle" is unlikely to entice too many Japanese players with little knowledge of English and even less awareness of a culture other than their own.

That's not to disparage Tahara - far from it. Rather it's an illustration that the hopes of Australian fans that Japanese players will use the A-League as a potential "launch pad to Europe" are at best naive and at worst, plain stupid.

Yutaka Tahara was just about the most "un-Japanese" player I've seen ply his trade in the J. League. From his grizzled beard to his bustling style, if ever a player was going to move to Australia, I thought Tahara might be it.

Not going to happen, folks.

If Yutaka Tahara is not up for the A-League... then don't expect too many other Japanese players to be booking flights Down Under any time soon.

In yet another piece written by an Australian media outlet containing the perjorative terms "Asian clubs" and "cashed-up," the Sydney Morning Herald has hinted that 2007-08 A-League champions Newcastle Jets - who curiously finished the current campaign bottom of the table - could be casting their eye over three Japanese players in preparation for their upcoming AFC Champions League campaign. 

The three players in question are Taro Hasegawa, Yukihiko Sato and Masaya Nishitani, and fans of Japanese top flight clubs could be forgiven a bout of quizzical head-scratching, with all three having just been released by teams in J2. 

Of the three, 30-year-old Nishitani has the most recent top flight experience. He got on the pitch 21 times for doomed Consadole Sapporo last season, as the Hokkaido club spent an ignominious 2008 campaign glued solidly to the bottom of the J1 table. Despite joining Consadole midway through 2005 - the fact that he only got on the pitch twice at Urawa Reds wasn't enough to stop the Herald labelling him an ex-Urawa player - Nishitani has now been deemed surplus to requirements as the northern strugglers attempt to steady their ship in the Second Division.

Veteran striker Taro Hasegawa managed just 14 appearances for Yokohama FC in their 45 league games in J2 last season, and a strike rate of zero goals won't exactly have Newcastle fans holding their breath that Hasegawa can prove a ready-made replacement should Joel Griffiths decide to join his brother Ryan at Chinese club Beijing Guoan.

Yukihiko Sato arguably carries the most pedigree, having graduated from the veritable football factory that is Shimizu Commercial High School (does that school hold the world record for the highest number of professional footballers produced, or what?) and having started his career at local club Shimizu S-Pulse, he also counts spells at FC Tokyo and Yokohama F. Marinos among his many postings. Sato was at J1 outfit Kashiwa Reysol as recently as 2007 - although he joined the Chiba-based side when they were in the second tier.

One thing that stands out with all three is the fact that they have so far been unable - or perhaps unwilling - to secure employment in the Japanese Second Division. With Australia's little corner of cyberspace often working itself into a frenzy in attempts to draw favourable comparisons with other leagues, it's hard to see how the fact that three ageing, off-contract Japanese journeymen being touted as potential A-League recruits is anything other than a slap of reality.

And that's to say nothing of the fact that convincing just one of the players to move to Australia - let alone all three of them - is a tough task in itself. With Tochigi SC, Kataller Toyama and Fagiano Okayama all joining the J2 party in 2009, there's plenty of work to go around, not to mention the fact that most of the clubs in the third-tier Japan Football League operate on a semi-professional basis.

I certainly hope that Japanese players start making the trip Down Under. So far only Hiroyuki Ishida has graced Australian shores with Perth Glory, and the tricky Sagan Tosu winger is apparently on the radar of several A-League clubs. Yutaka Tahara, meanwhile, once courted by Adelaide United, looks set for a switch to the K-League. That's a shame because he's certainly the kind of player that could do some damage on the Australian scene.

I'm not so sure about Nishitani, Hasegawa or Sato though.

I hope I'm wrong, but only time will tell.

So much for that.

It took all of a quarter of an hour for Gamba Osaka to underline their total supremacy in the AFC Champions League final, as the Kansai club romped to a 5-0 aggregate win over Adelaide United.

Questions will now be asked of how a team currently lying seventh in their domestic championship, who were beaten 3-1 away at Shimizu S-Pulse in the match preceding the first leg of the final and 3-1 at home to FC Tokyo in the match sandwiched in between, could prove so technically superior to a team regarded as one of Australia's premier club sides.

That a player like Hayato Sasaki caused so many problems for the Adelaide defence when the Gamba winger has started the total of TWO games in the Japanese top flight, and has played the full ninety minutes in J1 on a total of ZERO occasions, surely speaks volumes for the alarming disparity between the two sides.

The unsubstianted rumours suggesting that Sydney FC are willing to offer Sasaki a reputed $A600,000, three-year contract perhaps says more about the A-League's questionable scouting policy than it does about the financial gulf between the two leagues.

A-League fans who harp on about Brazilian strikers in Japan generally miss two key points.

The first is that, for complex cultural reasons, Japanese strikers are far more reluctant to shoot than their Brazilian counterparts. That's precisely the reason that Brazilian strikers are brought to Japan in the first place. But it's the fact that Brazilian strikers ply their trade in Japan at all that is key. 

If A-League clubs were after a lesson in scouting, they might consider giving Kawasaki Frontale a call. In Carlos Alberto Carvalho dos Anjos Junior, better known in Japan as Juninho, they found a match made in heaven. Converted from an attacking midfielder, Junhino has scored more than 130 goals in a little over 200 league appearances for the Kanagawa side. 

That didn't stop Frontale from recalling Tokyo Verdy's former goal machine Hulk from his loan spell in the capital. It was Kawasaki who originally brought the combustible youngster to Japan, and while things didn't work out for Hulk at Frontale, he now plys his trade for FC Porto, where he featured against Arsenal in this season's UEFA Champions League.

To replace him, Frontale signed Santos midfielder Vitor Junior on loan. Supremely skilled, the tricky midfielder promptly set up one and scored another on debut against Urawa Reds at Saitama Stadium. He joins 21-year-old ex-Santos striker Renatinho in the squad, who scored a goal in his first start for the club, before scoring two more in his next J. League match, nailing down a regular starting role in the process.

Plenty of big name Brazilians have pitched up in the J. League in recent years, including current Urawa Reds midfielder Robson Ponte and Kashiwa Reysol striker França, both once of the German Bundesliga. Yet plenty more Brazilians arrive unheralded.

Omiya Ardija can take credit for attracting two of them, although the Saitama side didn't quite have the foresight or financial clout to keep hold of them. These days bustling striker Leandro plays his football for Vissel Kobe, for whom he's scored seven league goals this season, while laying on several more for team-mates Yoshito Okubo and Takayuki Yoshida.

Baré is a more well-known case. He played much of his club football in Japan in the Second Division - having been lured to the country by Omiya Ardija, before eventually becoming the fulcrum of the Gamba Osaka attack until his departure for the oil-rich Gulf. 

In the A-League, only Melbourne Victory's Fred can be considered an unqualified success, although Adelaide United duo Diego and Cassio are more than useful acquisitions, with the jury still out on striker Cristiano. 

The fact that Fred departed the A-League for Major League Soccer after a solitary championship winning season with Melbourne Victory provides a sobering reality check as to just how much money A-League clubs have to splash. Yet with "marquee dollars" being spent on Socceroos like John Aloisi at Sydney FC, Archie Thompson at Melbourne Victory and now Jade North at the puzzlingly-named North Queensland Fury, it's a wonder that A-League clubs don't look north to try and lure some of the Brazilian talent on offer in the J. League a sunny sea-change Down Under.

That may be easier said than done - money is the first obstacle, but clearly Japanese clubs have spent years building their extensive scouting networks in Brazil, and with Japan and Brazil having forged socio-economic ties long ago, the A-League must also compete with the J. League's long history of signing Brazilians.

Still, with Lucas Severino having scored both goals in Gamba's 2-0 win over Adelaide United at Hindmarsh Stadium, A-League apologists may be quick to jump on the "Brazilians in Japan" bandwagon all over again. They're entitled to do so, but they might also want to consider how the A-League could be improved by signing one or two of the kinds of Brazilians who regularly lob up in Japan in the first place.

Hope springs eternal, so the old saying goes, and if Adelaide United were looking for signs that they can claw their way back into their two-legged AFC Champions League final clash with Gamba Osaka, they may have just found them in Gamba's 3-1 home defeat to FC Tokyo in the J. League at the weekend.

It wasn't that Gamba lost in a match in which neither side looked particularly impressive, but rather the way that Gamba conceded their goals that should pique interest in South Australia. 

Missing tall defender Sota Nakazawa through a back injury, Gamba coach Akira Nishino switched to an 3-4-3 formation that saw former Yokohama F. Marinos striker Roni handed a rare start, with Gamba still harbouring slim hopes of winning just their second J. League crown.

They could have been on their way had ex-Japan international Ryuji Bando not missed two golden opportunities in the first eight minutes. First Bando raced through one-on-one with FC Tokyo shot-stopper Hitoshi Shiota in just the second minute of the match, but as Bando picked his spot, Shiota guessed right and stuck out a lunging foot to deflect his effort wide.

Then Bando ran on to an excellent chip over the defence, only to turn and volley his effort straight at Shiota, with the former Japan international looking rusty in front of goal after missing most of the campaign through injury.

Those misses proved costly as FC Tokyo took the lead with the first attack of the game. There appeared little danger when winger Naohiro Ishikawa floated an innocuous looking cross deep towards the far post, but powerful Brazilian striker Cabore had only the diminutive Yasuhito Endo as his marker, and the ex-Gyeongnam FC striker Cabore simply shrugged the midfielder off and headed the ball back across the face of goal and into the far corner.   

FC Tokyo scored again with practically their next attack of the game. A long throw seconds after the half-time interval was aimed at the 192cm tall Sota Hirayama, but with the ball sailing over Hirayama's head and the Gamba defence paying far too much attention to the former Heracles Almelo front man, Naohiro Ishikawa dashed in behind the defence to side-foot a half-volley passed Yosuke Fujigaya for FC Tokyo's second.

Sota Hirayama was proving a real handful in this match, vindicating coach Hiroshi Jofuku's decision to leave top scorer Shingo Akamine on the bench, and Hirayama then scored the goal his dominant performance warranted. With his back to goal Hirayama used his powerful frame to shield the ball from Gamba midfielder Tomokazu Myojin, before turning and firing into the far corner of the goal.

The hosts pulled one back in front of a disappointing crowd of just 13,515 at Expo '70 Stadium, with Lucas Severino flicking on a chipped assist from Takahiro Futagawa to register a goal against the club he left in January. Yet Gamba never looked like winning this match, and it was FC Tokyo - and not the Osakans - who kept their faint hopes of winning an unlikely J. League title alive.

Three things stood out from the defeat. One is that Gamba missed Sota Nakazawa more than they would care to admit. While Michihiro Yasuda and ex-FC Tokyo man Akira Kaji are adequate in attack, they struggle in defence - particularly when Gamba are being put under pressure, and particularly when that pressure comes in the form of crosses into the box.

The second is that chipped passes over the defence are very much the modus operandi for Gamba's attack. Several times Gamba caught out the FC Tokyo back four this way, indeed that's how Lucas Severino scored his goal, but cutting off the supply line from midfield and in particular from Endo and Futagawa, seems like a sensible option in halting Gamba's forays forward.

Most importantly, Gamba tend to struggle under pressure. Since lifting their one and only J. League crown thanks to a dramatic final day in 2005 (ironically it was a stoppage-time FC Tokyo equaliser against Cerezo Osaka that saw Gamba win the title), Gamba have been involved in three subsequent title races. They've choked in all three of them.

Admittedly the J. League is as tough a domestic competition as it gets. But there's no doubt that pressure seems to affect Akira Nishino's team, especially when they're away from home.

Food for thought for Aurelio Vidmar then. He could do worse than demand a red-hot atmosphere from the home fans at Hindmarsh Stadium, while instructing tall timber Robert Cornthwaite and Sasa Ognenovski to get amongst it at set pieces. Overly simplistic it may seem, but that might be all that Adelaide United have to hold on to having been comprehensively outplayed in the first leg of this tie.    

There was an excellent piece by SBS football analyst Scott McIntyre last week that managed to put Gamba Osaka's upcoming two-legged AFC Champions League final with Adelaide United into perspective.

In it, McIntyre rightly rubbishes the myth that Japanese clubs have merely "bought" success in Asia, pointing out that clubs such as Gamba Osaka have run fully-fledged youth academies for years that have promoted countless numbers of youngsters into the ranks of professional football.

Just as alarming a myth being perpetuated in Australian football circles suggests that Gamba Osaka have already qualified for the upcoming FIFA Club World Cup. While "fact-checking" seems to be a byword for "time-wasting" within certain sections of the Australian media, the reality is that Gamba Osaka have certainly not qualified for the Club World Cup.

With Gamba's chances of winning the J. League looking increasingly remote, they need to win the AFC Champions League to qualify for the Club World Cup, which is precisely why Scott McIntyre claims that Gamba Osaka have much more to play for than Adelaide United, who will take part in the Club World Cup whether they win the Champions League or not.

Certainly Gamba will be looking to take something back to South Australia from the first leg of this clash at the dilapidated Expo '70 Stadium in Suita City on November 5, however Akira Nishino's side may not go into this match brimming with confidence after being smashed 3-1 by a rampant Shimizu S-Pulse in their last match in the J. League, while Gamba's weekend Emperor's Cup clash with J2 side Ventforet Kofu has been postponed until November 16.

Nevertheless having beaten Adelaide's A-League counterparts Melbourne Victory twice in the group stage of this season's AFC Champions League, Gamba will be desperate to become the second Japanese side to lift the current incarnation of the Champions League following Urawa Reds' success last season.

In midfielder Yasuhito Endo, Gamba possess one of the shining stars of Asian football, and the talismanic Japan international is well rested having sat out Gamba's defeat to S-Pulse through suspension. Indeed the entire Gamba squad is well rested - their last competitive match came on October 26 - and there is plenty of experience within the Gamba ranks as captain Satoshi Yamaguchi approaches 400 professional appearances, while long-range shooting specialist Takahiro Futagawa has played more than 250 times for Gamba.

What Gamba will come up against is an Adelaide side that has made winning the Champions League their mission. Aurelio Vidmar's side have played with obvious passion and constant grit throughout this tournament. Unfortunately for Vidmar he comes up against a Gamba outfit synonymous with precisely those qualities.

With Gamba forced to subsist in a baseball heartland in which J2-dwelling city rivals Cerezo Osaka have far more potential to command popular support, an AFC Champions League title would do nicely for a club looking to increase their popularity throughout the Kansai region. Moreover with Gamba having announced ambitious plans to build a 35,000-capacity "English style" stadium on the site of their current Expo-land home, the Champions League final has suddenly taken on "must-win" proportions for the club that started out a modest existence as Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. Soccer Club in 1980.

Still, Adelaide United will be just as desperate for victory in this continental showpiece final - particularly after their most recent 3-2 home defeat to Melbourne Victory, and with full houses likely to pack into Expo '70 Stadium on the northern fringes of Osaka on November 5 and again in Adelaide's Hindmarsh Stadium on November 12, all eyes will be on East Asia for this mouth-watering clash of Asia's best in the 2008 AFC Champions League final.

I read an interesting piece by Jesse Fink over at The Roar the other day about the A-League's current struggle to attract fans through the turnstiles. While I found myself nodding in agreement as usual with the Finkster, his suggestion that the A-League might scour the J. League for some talent got me thinking about just who from these shores would prove useful Down Under.

My first thought was Nagoya's out-of-contract, not-necessarily-wanting-to-return-to-Norway, goal-every-other-game former international Frode Johnsen. The big blonde bomber has not only been one of the most consistent goalscorers in Japanese football since his switch from ex-UEFA Champions League mainstays Rosenborg, he's also one of the nicest blokes going around. His salary might prove a stumbling block - something tells me that Toyota-backed Nagoya have a fair bit of bling to throw around - but he strikes me as the kind of bloke for whom a nice sea change by the beach with the wife and kids would not affect his strong work ethic and ability to find the net with monotonous regularity.

Then I turned my thoughts to Consadole Sapporo's hapless Brazilian Davi. The agile striker has been a joy to watch (for non-Sapporo fans, at least) as he struggles to rein in his combustible temperament in the midst of the total incompetence of his team-mates. The former Vitoria striker was one of the best in J2 last season, but the fact that he is now the top-flight's second-top scorer despite only playing twenty games speaks volumes for his quality - and the majority of his goals have been sights to behold, as well.

Davi is clearly the type of player that attracts fans through the gates - I know I was looking forward to seeing him when he came to Nihondaira Stadium last month - but then I remembered the rumours coming out of the Japanese press that several teams in the Gulf States are looking at luring some of the J. League's foreign stars to the Middle-East.

Australians already know about one of them. Emerson has been at the centre of a legal wrangle over his eligibility to play for Qatar in World Cup qualifiers for months, but before his reincarnation as a Qatari-goal getter, the Brazilian-born striker was a regular goalscorer for Urawa Reds. Emerson arguably set the trend for J. League players cashing in their yen and heading to the Middle-East, but Magno Alves upped the stakes when he walked out on Gamba Osaka to join Saudi side Al-Ittihad just days after the Osakans had lifted the League Cup in 2007.

The next Gamba striker to lob up at the Emirates Airlines express check-in desk was Baré, who booked himself a one-way flight to Dubai to link up with Al-Ahli. Gamba Osaka banked a cool six million euros for their end of the deal, but the simple fact is that the J. League is slowly but surely losing some of its best.

The departure of some of the J. League's Brazilian stars may ultimately help Japanese football. As it currently stands the Japanese national team has chronic problems in attack, with coach Takeshi Okada admitting that Japanese strikers in the J. League struggle in comparison to their Brazilian counterparts - many of whom spend half the time hogging the ball, and the other half berating their team-mates for not passing to them.

It's a hard stretch to see any Japanese players willing to sacrifice a generous salary, comfortable lifestyle and familiar culture to test their skills in the A-League, and suggestions that the J. League will "raid the A-League" for players next season seem wide of the mark given the extensive scouting network that most Japanese clubs employ in Brazil - not to mention the historical success of Koreans in the J. League.

A more realistic appraisal might be that the J. League becomes a kind of second-tier league - at least in terms of cash-flow - as it struggles to keep up with the oil-rich Emirates. Already the J. League is considered by many to be the most professional of Asian leagues, but a substantial injection of cash could gradually change things in the Gulf.

The J. League will always continue to attract skillful foreigners, but whether they are of the same calibre as players like Emerson and Baré remains to be seen. The departure of some of the limelight-grabbing Brazilians from Japanese football may ultimately be a good thing - at least for the Japanese national team - but with the A-League now a new player on the block and competing with Japan and the K-League for supplies of talent, the J. League will do well to keep an eye on the ball, lest the focus of Asian club football makes a seismic shift west.