[4] At the Women's World Invitational Tournament (known as the Chunghua Cup), staged by Taiwan in December 1987, the United States beat Japan 1–0 with a goal scored by the defender Lori Henry.

[3][note 1] The United States defeated Japan 5–2 at the 1988 FIFA Women's Invitation Tournament in Panyu on June 1, 1988, as Carin Jennings-Gabarra scored a hat-trick.

[7] The United States won all three games and when Japan attended Charlotte, North Carolina for another friendly in April 1999 DiCicco's team inflicted a record-equalling 9–0 defeat.

[8] Japan avoided defeat by the United States for the first time on the occasion of their 14th meeting, a 1–1 friendly match at Bank One Ballpark in Phoenix, Arizona on 17 December 2000.

A fatigued United States team, playing in a record 41st match of the year, dominated but conceded an equalizer to Homare Sawa after Brandi Chastain's opener.

[10] The formerly one-sided rivalry became closer in the period following Japan's upset penalty shoot-out win in the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup final.

[19] In April 2012 the United States travelled to play a friendly match in Japan, where they visited the area affected by the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami and left gifts for local schoolchildren.