Gregor Townsend began his reign as Scotland head coach with a 34-13 victory over Conor O'Shea's Italy in Singapore, while Japan warmed up for their two-Test series against Ireland with a 33-21 defeat of Romania.
Four tries in a spectacular 10 minutes helped Townsend's cause while fly-half Finn Russell produced two moments of magic that made sure of the result.
Ali Price, Tim Visser, Ross Ford (two) and Damien Hoyland scored tries for Scotland, with Duncan Taylor and Peter Horne adding a conversion apiece and Russell on target twice from the tee.
World Cup hosts Japan, meanwhile, opened their mid-year internationals with a morale-boosting 33-21 victory over Romania in Kyushu on Saturday, the Brave Blossoms staving off a furious second half comeback after looking imperious for 50 minutes.
Utilising their pace, movement and coach Jamie Joseph's expansive tactics to perfection, Japan scored three tries to Romania's two as flyhalf Jumpei Ogura tallied 18 points from seven kicks in an impressive display of all-round rugby.
The teams are separated by just five places in the rankings but world number 11 Japan looked a class above their opponents for much of the contest until Romania slowed the game down and fought back gamely in the latter stages.
The Brave Blossoms host Joe Schmidt's men next Saturday in Shizuoka, before taking them on again in Tokyo seven days later.
