I like to keep up with the J-League too, having lived for a while in Shimizu I'm naturally enough a fan of the mighty Shimizu S-Pulse.
As for the World Cup...Japan are most certainly in that next summer, in a group with Holland, Cameroon and Denmark. It's not an easy group at all, and Japan will need to do very well if theya re to have any chance of progressing. The Japanses coach Takeshi Okada has stated that he thinks Japan can reach the semi-finals!! This seems a bizarrely over-optimistic idea, and to me is just setting themselves up for a fall. The last 16 is a more realistic and potentially achievable target, although like I say it would be a huge achievement if they managed that.
I'm one of many writers for a World Cup Blog which covers countries from all over the world, and any of you interested in keeping up with Japan's national team affairs and leaving comments and debate should have a look at this link
Japan World Cup Team Blog and have a read leave a few comments. It's updated regularly so is always worth a read.