Japan trailed by eight points after 65 minutes and had several breaks into the England half, but handling errors and poor decision-making cost them the chance to get back into the game.
"We felt we were right in it. We felt the momentum was changing," wing Lomano Lemeki (34) told reporters. "(Kotaro) Matsushima made a break, we got all the way down there and we dropped the ball in their 22.
"Little things like that, against big teams – especially tier one teams – if you don’t finish those chances, it just deflates your team. Especially our forwards, they were under the pump against a good pack."
Despite the setback, and the fact they came into the World Cup with one win in nine tests, Lemeki believes Japan can be a force in this World Cup.
"We’re definitely getting there. We’re getting bigger bodies now and more agile players. We’re moving in the right direction," he said.
"I thought our boys were awesome. It was just the finesse part that we are missing at the moment.
"Once we did have England under the pump, we had to put the foot down. We would get there or thereabouts and cough it up. Big teams know how to squeeze you out with pressure."
Japan will have time to rest tired bodies with their next match against the Samoans in Toulouse in 10 days’ time.
"It’s a big game. It’s pretty much do-or-die now," Lemeki said. "We’ll get away from footy for two days and refresh mentally. We’ll come back in and I’m sure Browny (assistant coach Tony Brown) will have a mastermind plan in place for us.
"We don’t need bonus points, we just need to win and then beat Argentina. That’s what you live for – you love the pressure.
"We’re just going to have to do it the hard way now. We win, we live to fight another day, if we lose we’ll go (home). We’ll save our best for these knockout games."
