Alex Miller, the former Liverpool coach, talks about the culture shock of being a manager in Tokyo and explains what George Burley"s side need to do

The Japanese character, and its effect on the country’s footballers, has long exercised western minds. Arsène Wenger, one of the J-League’s earliest pioneers, wanted them to show more initiative. Stuart Baxter, the Scot with an appreciation of eastern culture, identified in them a lack of confidence. Philippe Troussier, their national coach at the 2002 World Cup, demanded that they become more confrontational in the dressing room, more streetwise on the pitch.

To that list might be added the name of Alex Miller. As Scotland make the long trip to Yokohama for this weekend’s Kirin Cup match, the former St Mirren, Hibernian and Aberdeen manager, who worked with the national side as Craig Brown’s assistant in the 1990s, can vouch for the idiosyncrasies of Japanese players. Less than three months ago, he parted company with JEF United Chiba after spending just over a year in Tokyo.

The problem, he says, is the culture of obedience stemming from Japan’s corporate work ethic. “If you are a boss, and you stay in the office till 11 at night, so will everyone else,” Miller says. “If you go to a restaurant, especially outside Tokyo, and they have maybe a chicken dish on the menu, and a fish dish with vegetables, you can’t ask for chicken and vegetables. They will not do it. There is no breaking the rules whatsoever.”

In football, those submissive qualities manifest themselves in a reluctance to take responsibility, to make decisions or even communicate.

“They don’t like conflict,” Miller says. “They don’t like offering an opinion in case they are wrong. But in football, you have to be wrong to be right. You have to make mistakes before you can learn from them. In Japan, if you ask a player to do something, he does it to the letter. He will not change off his own back.”

Which is not to say that Scotland will have it easy on Saturday. What the Japanese have lacked in character down the years, they have more than made up for in natural ability. Why else would they be heading for their fourth consecutive World Cup finals, a statistic that ought to embarrass the life out of Scotland’s national side? The J-League, set up in 1993 to effect a “social revolution”, has produced the likes of Shunsuke Nakamura, a former Celtic player, and Yasuhito Endo, of Gamba Osaka, talented players with the potential to upset Scotland.

“The best teams in the J-League could compete in the Premiership,” Miller says. “A lot of their players would enhance any team. Two or three would be top, top players in Scotland. The technical level is higher than Scotland’s. They are better at trapping and passing the ball. Scotland will have to get in their faces, play with two or three up front, and press them. If you allow their midfielders to settle, they will dictate the game.”

Miller has mixed feelings about his spell there. He had an apartment in Tokyo’s Bay Area, and although his wife visited for several weeks at a time, life outside football was a lonely existence, punctuated only by his Sopranos box set, and occasional visits to the local driving range. He famously saved Chiba from relegation in 2008, but after securing 19 points from 19 matches this season, he left amid speculation that interference by the club’s owners was proving intolerable.

Now, he is sunning himself in Marbella, wondering why Scotland are even bothering. Miller has plenty of experience of the 12-hour flight and is not surprised that so many players, especially from the Old Firm, have withdrawn. “Rangers and Celtic need to look after themselves. There is no way that players can go away to Japan, come back and not feel the effects in their next match. I know friendlies are useful, and Scotland are trying to keep the momentum going after Holland and Macedonia, but do they need to go to Japan to do that?”

Miller was with Scotland in Hiroshima 14 years ago, when John Spencer was sent off, and a side featuring Rob McKinnon and Brian Martin held out for a scoreless draw. He is proud of his work with Brown during that era, when the team qualified for Euro 96 and France 98. “We had the best defensive record in world football,” he says. “We would love to have scored more goals but you have to work with the players you are given.”

George Burley, it seems, has even fewer at his disposal, with Kris Boyd, Barry Ferguson, Allan McGregor and Lee McCulloch all out of the picture, largely by their own doing. “Years ago, playing for Scotland gave you an identity as an international player,” Miller says. “It helped you to get a new contract or a boot deal. Now, they don’t need to bother. They have big money.”

The 60-year-old Scot isn’t sure what the future holds. He turned down one offer in a country where there was “political unrest”, and now plans to take a leaf out of Jimmy Calderwood’s book by watching some of the big Spanish clubs in training. Xabi Alonso, with whom he worked during nine years on the backroom staff at Liverpool, will open doors for him at Real Madrid.

That spell at Anfield, assisting both Rafael Benítez and Gérard Houllier, is likely to ensure he will not be unemployed for long. “You don’t last nine years at Liverpool if you don’t know what you’re doing,” he says. “They were top, top managers who didn’t need to keep me there. I have great experience, and I’m still young. I want another job. I don’t like not working.”