It may look like a stage to tweak facets of play but for Japan, the Hawke's Bay Cup in Hastings is a canvas for the first few brush strokes towards obtaining the bigger picture.
"It's a really important stepping stone to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics for us as hosts," says rookie captain Hazuki Yuda through interpreter Taiga Yamaguchi, 18, a tertiary student from Napier.
The Kenji Hasebe-coached Land of the Rising Sun cross sticks with the defending champion Vantage Black Sticks Women at the Unison Stadium from 6pm today in the first round of the international tournament in its fourth year.
The 27-year-old midfielder, who will slip on the armband of captaincy in just two months of calling the shots, says Japan are thankful for the invitation from the organisers of the Vantage HB Festival of Hockey again to refine their constitution "at a fantastic tournament" among friendly New Zealanders.
The world No10 campaigners, akin to most international teams, have undergone a changing of guards with the injection of new blood to nurture towards stabilising the brain drain of experience.