The game was interrupted for nearly an hour in the 13th minute due to lightning and heavy rain, but Urawa put in a solid display when play resumed as Takahara struck in the 28th minute, latching onto a pass from Takahito Soma before firing home from close range.

Reds continued to attack and could have added more but for wasteful finishing from Yuki Abe, Edmilson and Soma.

"It would have been better if we had scored the second goal," said Urawa coach Gert Engels.

"But we've got three points, which does matter a lot to us especially after Nagoya and Oita won their games yesterday."

Takahara said: "I was a little concerned with our concentration which I thought we might lose due to the rain break.

"But we just tried to reset our focus when the game resumed."

In Kyoto, Gamba Osaka defeated Kyoto Sanga 2-1 to end a run of six games without a win.

Gamba took the lead after just two minutes when Satoshi Yamaguchi headed home from a corner.

But the hosts soon rallied and Yuto Sato equalised with a shot from distance that hit a Gamba defender before sailing into the net in the 24th minute.

Gamba soon restored their lead, however, as Brazilian forward Roni broke through the defence to slot home two minutes later.

"We ran out of stamina but managed to hold on to the end," said Gamba coach Akira Nishino.

The victory was tainted by the loss of Brazilian midfielder Lucas, who left the pitch in the 59th minute with a knee injury.