England needed two late own goals from Japan defenders Marcus Tanaka and Yuji Nakazawa to gain victory in their final World Cup warm-up match in Graz.
Tanaka had stunned England by giving Japan a seventh-minute lead and Fabio Capello’s side looked uncertain at the back.
But Tanaka levelled matters when deflecting in a cross from Joe Cole and then Nakazawa suffered the same fate from a centre by Ashley Cole.
David James was handed his first England start for 13 months while three Chelsea players – Ashley Cole, Frank Lampard and John Terry – returned with Tom Huddlestone handed his first start in a bid to make a late claim to be part of the final squad of 23 for South Africa, which will be confirmed on Tuesday.