Shimizu S-Pulse forward Shinji Okazaki struck a hat-trick for the second consecutive game as Japan downed Togo.

After missing Saturday's win over Scotland, Okazaki repeated his treble in last Thursday's demolition of Hong Kong, while Catania striker Takayuki Morimoto and VVV-Venlo midfielder Keisuke Honda were also on target for the World Cup finalists at Miyagi Stadium in Miyagi Prefecture.

A young Togo side arrived just 24 hours before the game with only 14 players after Saturday's defeat to Cameroon ended their hopes of advancing to the South Africa showpiece next summer and were also without Manchester City striker Emmanuel Adebayor.

"We went into the game aiming to do what we had to do, and our players showed their intentions to achieve that. I'm grateful for their efforts," said Japan coach Takeshi Okada.

"However, we still need to improve our threat up front. We have eight months to go to the World Cup and now move in to a crucial period."

After only five minutes the home side opened the scoring as Yasuhito Endo fed Okazaki from the left for the in-form striker to beat Togo goalkeeper Dodji Obilale from close range.

Three minutes later, Okazaki latched onto a fine ball from Kengo Nakamura before slotting home with another close range finish to double the lead.

And with just 11 minutes on the clock, Yuto Nagatomo found Morimoto and the Catania frontman shook off his marker before firing home from the edge of the area.

Kengo Nakamura, Okazaki, Morimoto all had chances to extend Japan's advantage before the break, while Monaco striker Serge Gakpe had the best chance of the first half for Togo but was eventually thwarted by the Japan defence.

Japan's domination continued after the break and Okazaki headed home five minutes after the hour mark to complete his hat-trick.

Half-time substitute Honda slotted home a rebound from Yoshito Okubo's shot with five minutes remaining to complete the scoring for Japan against a young Togo side containing just four players from the defeat by Cameroon.

"We have travelled a long way and our team is young and Japan played at a high level and this resulted in the early goals," said Togo coach Hubert Velud.

"We could have given Japan some problems if we had come with a full squad and it's a shame we could not."