Following expeditions to the USA and Australia last season, the latest leg of Newcastle's global tour saw them reach Japan for two kickabouts in the Toyko area. 

Awaiting them were two domestic top-flight clubs about to embark on the final third of their J League season; Urawa sitting tenth in the 20 team competition and Yokohama one place below.

The opening game took place in the city of Saitama, around 50 miles to the north of the capital. Rain showers relented before kick-off, when the temperature was 26 degrees with 90% humidity.

Nine of the starting eleven at Hull on Saturday lined up again four days and 5,800 miles later - Joe Willock and Sean Longstaff appearing at the expense of Jamal Lewis and Jamie Miley. 

Barely two minutes had elapsed when the returning Willock made his first notable contribution of the evening, combining with Harvey Barnes on the halfway line to set Isak away. The Swede outwitted a trio of Urawa players before firing home his third goal in as many games with typical panache.

Confusion in the home defence then almost let Willock in for an immediate second; Barnes sending a first-time effort towards the unguarded goal only for a Urawa player to make a timely block.

Fleeting fears that Willock's return from injury would be blighted were eased when he withstood a collision that left him sprawled on the floor in front of the home dugouts. However the midfielder was quickly on his feet after an application of magic spray. 

The home side levelled midway through the opening period, Yusuke Matsuo finding space down the left flank and sending over a low centre that the unmarked Rio Nitta back-heeled past Pope - a pre-arranged water break then delaying the restart.

Chances at both ends saw a Barnes shot deflected on to the post before Tino Livramento tripped Hirokazu Ishihara just outside the Newcastle area and the local referee kindly awarded a penalty.

Justice was done however when Diamonds captain Atsuki Ito was denied by Pope, who dived to his right to block an effort that was at a favourable height.

Had the scores stayed that way, a penalty shootout would have determined the winner of a game played as part of the J League International Series, consisting of ourselves and Stuttgart each playing two different home sides. 

The Germans won 5-3 against Kyoto and defeated Hiroshima 5-2 - whether the 2024 equivalent of a big blue vase is at stake if we win our second game by three clear goals is unclear though....

(Spurs and Brighton have also played here in recent days, but in unrelated kickabouts). 

The black and whites regained their lead late in the first half, Willock dispossessing the dawdling Ito deep in the Urawa half and bursting forward towards goal. Riding a tackle on the edge of the box, he laid off a pass for the overlapping Murphy, who found the bottom corner of the net from 10 yards.

Murphy added his fourth of pre-season just two minutes after the restart, taking a pass from newly arrived substitute Jamie Miley and netting with a low looping left-footer.

Lewis Hall's long-range effort just before the hour took a big deflection off the head of Yota Sato en route to goal for 4-1, after which the volume of replacements and the energy-sapping conditions contributed to an unremarkable closing passage of play and just one added minute.

A successful evening on the field for United saw no injuries and conditions that embodied those cliches from meaningless matches about minutes in the legs and good workouts.    

The hosts also treated it as a glorified training exercise; no less than four of their second half substitutes themselves replaced and one player getting his first pitch time since 2021. 

In the stands also, the flag-waving, brand-building exercise was enhanced by Newcastle wearing their home kit rather than the white and green third ensemble unveiled in Toyko the previous day. In the absence of silverware to brandish, other visible hooks are needed to aid awareness - and revenues. 

Ticket sales and TV rights for this game aren't showstoppers on their own and selling kits in a Toyko shopping centre won't fund Anthony Gordon's new contract, but at least they were there to buy. 

Contrast that to the 2023 USA pre-season, when Chelsea tour merchandise choked the concession stands in the grounds next to an empty space where the Newcastle shirts should have been until the last of our three Summer Series games.   

And even that shirt launch was a departure for the club; the only equivalent in the Mike Ashley era an embarrassed Jamaal Lascelles appearing in the Dublin Sports Direct store to a handful of fans who defied the lack of publicity. No-key, rather than low-key.  

For those exiles and new converts to the cause present tonight though, the scoreline and the shirt design was rather less important than witnessing a first appearance in Japan for almost 30 years.    

Biffa