Newcastle United manager Eddie Howe would not comment Saturday on reports that Newcastle were trying to sign England centre-back Marc Guehi after watching his side lose 2-0 to Yokohama F. Marinos in steamy Tokyo.
After a 4-1 win over Urawa Red Diamonds in midweek, Howe was looking for a third straight pre-season win from his players, but they struggled in the stifling heat as the mercury topped 30 Celsius at the National Stadium.
Midfielder Elber opened the scoring for the J. League side in the 33rd minute and Jun Amano got the second six minutes after halftime.
Howe had nothing to say about UK media reports that Newcastle had made a £60 million move for Crystal Palace's Guehi, one of England's outstanding players in their run to the Euro 2024 final last month.
"It was a good test for us," said Howe, who wanted to talk only about the match. "A difficult game. Very good opposition."
Newcastle wilted after a lively start which saw debutant Lloyd Kelly's pass release Alexander Isak to cut back for Sean Longstaff, but his shot was saved by goalkeeper Hiroki Iikura.
"I thought we started brightly today and faded after we conceded," said Howe, who was pleased none of his players picked up any injuries.
"Disappointed with the result of course," he added. "We didn't do well enough to cause their goal more harm."
Turning 1-0 down at halftime, Howe made seven changes but Newcastle conceded a second when Yuta Koike robbed Jacob Murphy on the byline and squared for Amano to slot home his team's second.
Former Arsenal winger Ryo Miyaichi forced a save from Nick Pope and Newcastle were lucky not to concede a third when Miyaichi missed a point-blank header late on.
Newcastle return home for a friendly against Girona on Friday before kicking off the new Premier League season against Southampton at St James' Park on 17 August.