Italian tactician Alberto Zaccheroni has landed the Japan national team job.

The 57-year old Italian, who most recently undertook a short-term contract with last season's crisis club Juventus, becomes the first man from his homeland to be appointed as coach of Japan.

Zaccheroni, who has also managed Torino, Inter Milan, Lazio, AC Milan and Udinese among others, replaces Takeshi Okada whose tenured ended after the World Cup in July.

The Blue Samurai have friendlies this week, beginning with Paraguay on September 4 and followed by Guatemala three days later but Zaccheroni will not oversee those matches because a visa will not have been sorted in time.

Instead, technical director Hiromi Hara will be caretaker for those two games before Zaccheroni takes full control.