Such is the strength of the home team that no European-trained horse has won the Japan Cup for nine years and it is long odds-against that sequence being broken as Trading Leather lines up for Godolphin in the 34th edition of Japan's most famous race.

Last year's Irish Derby winner is joined by Germany's Ivanhowe as they bid to end a losing sequence back to Alkaased's last-gasp victory for Frankie Dettori and Luca Cumani in 2005.

However, they face a spectacular domestic squad in the 521 million yen (£2.8m/€3.53m) contest, in which a veritable who's who of Japanese stars is headed by Gentildonna, Just A Way and Harp Star.

Six-time Grade 1 winner Gentildonna (Sei Ishizaka), the fillies' Triple Crown winner in 2012, is reunited with Ryan Moore as she bids for an unpredecented hat-trick in the Japan Cup. The partnership touched off Denim And Ruby here 12 months ago before beating a top-class field in the Dubai Sheema Classic.

With Moore on duty elsewhere, Gentildonna ran sound race to finish second in last month's Tenno Sho (Autumn) which should have put her spot-on for this. She will be retired at the end of the season. She is one of five runners who are progeny of Deep Impact, the brilliant Triple Crown winner who was Racing Post world champion in 2006.

In 2014, the world's top-rated horse is still Just A Way (Naosuke Sugai/Yuichi Fukunaga), who returns to Japanese soil after finishing eighth in the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, where three-year-old compatriot Harp Star (Hiroyoshi Matsuda/Yuga Kawada) sprinted down the Longchamp straight to finish sixth. Both looked to have been given far too much to do, the loop-and-swoop tactics that often prevail in Japan not proving quite so successful in France.

Questions remain about Just A Way's aptitude for this 1m4f trip, though at least the sensational six-length Dubai Duty Free victor has a pair of Grade 1 successes to his name at Tokyo racecourse.

Several of these ran in the Tenno Sho (Autumn) over 1m2f at this venue four weeks ago, when five-year-old Spielberg (Kazuo Fujisawa/Hiroshi Kitamura) registered his first Grade 1 victory by three-quarters of a length over Gentildonna. Satsuki Sho (2,000 Guineas) winner Isla Bonita (Hironori Kurita/Masayoshi Ebina) was a head away in third; Isla Bonita had previously finished second to One And Only (Kojiro Hashiguchi/Norihiro Yokoyama) over course-and-distance in the Tokyo Yushun (Derby). One And Only seemingly failed to stay in the Kikuka Sho (St Leger).

Denim And Ruby (Katsuhiko Sumii/Suguru Hamanaka) just missed out in last year's race, where Tosen Jordan (Yasutoshi Ikee/Pierre-Charles Boudot) was third. Making his fourth appearance in the race, he was second in 2011 and sixth in 2012.

Soft ground is a necessity for Ivanhowe (Jean-Pierre Carvalho/Filip Minarik), who surprised Sea The Moon in the Grosser Preis von Baden before a dismal Arc display; he returned to his best on November 1 when readily beating a weak Group 1 field in in Munich.

Rarely out of the places, Trading Leather (Jim Bolger/Kevin Manning) has not won in seven races since last year's Irish Derby and the draw hasn't been noticeably kind, either - gate 18 of 18.

Canadian-trained Up With The Birds (Malcolm Pierce/Eurico Rosa Da Silva) was well beaten in the Arlington Million.

What the Japan Cup connections say

Naosuke Sugai, trainer of Just A Way

"He was up to peak for the Arc and quickened well even when things got tight but it is one tough race after all and it was clear that he needed to have raced from further forward. As the top-ranked horse in the world, I want him to give us a race that won't be an embarrassment."

Jean-Pierre Carvalho, trainer of Ivanhowe

"He was 100 per cent before he arrived in Japan and I would say he's 100 per cent now but he performs better on softer going, so it would be ideal if it rains. He prefers to sit in the back before demonstrating a good turn of foot."

Sei Ishizaka, trainer of Gentildonna

"She just passed Isla Bonita in the Tenno Sho but then she was overtaken on the outside. She finished second but I think the race was proof of how well she is doing now. The good thing for us is that we’ll be racing at Tokyo again and I'm expecting her to do well this time too. I think she's switched on and knows the race is coming.This will be her last Japan Cup, but she's in the best shape she has been in yet, the right shape to go for three successive wins."

Hiroyoshi Matsuda, trainer of Harp Star

"With the change in season, her coat has grown long but she has this from her grand-dam Vega, so it's not a problem. She has handled a good bit of distance in morning work and she's eating well. The distance is long this time and I think the pace will be slow, so she may race from a bit more forward position than usual."

Malcolm Pierce, trainer of Up With The Birds

"I don't think the track will be a problem. He's a kind of horse that likes to run relaxed, and I don't think he will be too close in the beginning, but when we turn home I don't want him too far back."

Hironori Kurita, trainer of Isla Bonita

"I'd say he went to the front a bit too early in the Tenno Sho but he gave it his all up against the older horses. This time he's back with a jockey who's very familiar with him so expectations are high. He has experience at 2,400 metres and even though it's a strong field, if he can run his own race I think it'll go well."

Kojiro Hashiguchi, trainer of One And Only

"We drew an outside barrier for the Kikuka Sho and were forced to travel pretty much the entire way out wide so that hurt us. I like to believe that result doesn't reflect the horse's quality. Tokyo is where he won the Derby. As long as he runs to his potential, we've got a chance."

Pierre-Charles Boudot, rider of Tosen Jordan

"I don't think he ran badly in the Tenno Sho but the trip was certainly a little short for him. We'll be among the outsiders but he has a lot of experience of this race which helps. I'll be delighted if we're there fighting at the finish."

Kazuo Fujisawa, trainer of Spielberg

"I thought he made his move to the outside a little too early in the Tenno Sho, but he was incredible down the stretch. He's got stronger as he's got older, and the long straight at Tokyo has always suited him. I'm excited about the race, even at this distance, which I think is within his range of capability."

Hirofumi Toda, trainer of Fenomeno

"The Tenno Sho was his first race in a long time but even so, he lost by way too much. The jockey said he just wasn't covering ground at all but I don't have a clear explanation for why he lost. We expect him to show some improvement and the extra distance will be a plus. The fact we can't figure out the cause of his loss is a matter of concern."

Kevin Manning, rider of Trading Leather

"He hasn't had his ideal ground probably in any run that he's had this year. He's really a good quick-ground horse and he just didn't really have the conditions that suit him all season. I wouldn't like to see a lot of rain come. I think he's at his peak. He's in top form and he feels very good."