A tidy finish by Luis Corrales on 27 minutes and a second by Adam McGeorge seven minutes later gave Auckland a comfortable 2-0 halftime lead in five degree Celsius conditions.
Auckland survived a tense finish when Ryutsu substitute Jyosyua scored from what appeared to be an offside position just before the hour mark.
The visitors then missed the chance to restore their two-goal cushion after Daniel Koprivcic smashed a penalty against the Ryutsu Keizai upright with ten minutes left.
“The result is not important but the performance was and we got some answers out of the game,” coach Ramon Tribulietx said.
“That’s what we were looking for. Everyone showed they can compete at this level and that we can take this forward to December 8.”
After a strong first-half performance, Tribulietx made good on his promise to give his fringe players game time by making a full range of substitutions.
One player who stood out was Adam McGeorge, whose constant pressure on the Ryutsu defence helped create several scoring opportunities.
“It was an eye opener to what we are going to play in the Club World Cup,” McGeorge said. “It was definitely a step up in the speed of the players and the ball and we took time to adapt to it but I thought we coped well.”
Captain Ivan Vicelich started the match and turned in a typically assured performance at the back.
“With some teams you expect a bad touch every now and then – but it just never came from Ryutsu tonight,” Vicelich said.
The 2-1 win is the second time Auckland City has beaten a professional outfit in a friendly match this season – a list that includes A-League side Central Coast Mariners.
Auckland City leaves Tokyo for its team base camp in Nagoya on Saturday morning where they will play their FIFA Club World Cup play-off with the as-yet-unknown J.League winners.
To prepare, Tribulietx and director of football Aaron McFarland will go to games featuring two of the three possible title contenders.
McFarland treks north to watch second-placed Nagoya play Niigata, while Tribulietx will go to the match between relegation-threatened Urawa Red Diamonds and title favourites Kashiwa Reysol.
“It’s always good to watch teams live because you see things you miss if you watch the game on television,” Tribulietx said. “But you never know – I might be watching the wrong game.”
The other match features Gamba Osaka but Tribulietx does not have a preferred opponent.
“The three teams are similar to each other but overall it will be tough no matter who we face, so we’ll just get on with the job,” he said.

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