Reds bounced back from their 4-0 thrashing at the hands of Gamba Osaka in last week's Xerox Super Cup to hand Holger Osiek his first win since taking over from Guido Buchwald as coach.

However, the champions had to wait until the 86th minute to seal all three points when Yuichiro Nagai struck from 10 yards out.

Robson Ponte had given Reds the lead in the 26th minute when he received the ball from his Brazilian compatriot Washington before scoring with a shot that was deflected into the goal.

But new Yokohama signing Tatsuhiko Kubo cancelled out Urawa's lead on the stroke of half-time only for Reds to dominate the second period.

With just four minutes remaining, though, Nagai struck, picking the ball up from Washington before bursting into the penalty area to score.

"The game developed as I had expected," Osieck said. "It was not easy to take control of the game when your opponents played defensively.

"But our players looked for the goal over the 90 minutes and played better than they did last week, which I'm happy about."

Reds now face Persik Kediri of Indonesia in their first-ever appearance in the AFC Champions League while Japan's other representative, Kawasaki Frontale, will also go into the competition on the back of a win following their 1-0 victory over Kashima Antlers.

A first-half goal from Brazilian Magnum was enough to gave Frontale the perfect start to the new campaign, the midfielder scoring in the 22nd minute.

In the day's other games, Sanfrecce Hiroshima downed hosts FC Tokyo 4-2 while Yokohama F Marinos beat visiting Ventforet Kofu 1-0.

Oita Trinita were held to a 1-1 draw at home by Albirex Niigata, Shimizu S-Pulse defeated Vissel Kobe 1-0 at home and former champions Gamba scored a 1-0 win over Omiya Ardija 1-0.

On Sunday, Jubilo Iwata will visit Kashiwa Reysol, also promoted from Division Two, and Nagoya Grampus Eight will host JEF United Chiba.