Flying first from Liverpool John Lennon to London Heathrow and then on to Tokyo Narita Airport, the journey felt every bit as long as some of the players had first feared when Liverpool's participation in the tournament was confirmed earlier in the season.
Fortunately for the players and coaching staff seated in business class at the front of Virgin Flight 900, the first few hours were spent pouring over the sports pages of the Sunday newspapers laid out on every seat.
After Liverpool's seventh straight Premiership win on Saturday - a two-nil victory over Middlesbrough that saw Rafael Benitez's side move into second place and equal a club record of 10 consecutive clean sheets - the newspapers certainly made happy in-flight reading.
"Overhauling Chelsea's lead this year looks impossible, but then so did beating AC Milan at half-time in Istanbul," pondered the Mail on Sunday, as every other newspaper talked up Liverpool as genuine title contenders.
The mood in the camp was further buoyed upon touchdown when it emerged that Everton had held Manchester United to a point while the players were mid-air - ensuring Liverpool held on to second place - but today in Japan, the travelling contingent from Merseyside appeared keen to forget the Premiership and concentrate on the task in hand - winning the World Club Championship.
"We are in Japan to win the tournament, it's as simple as that," claimed club captain Steven Gerrard. "We're all a bit tired right now but we are very excited to be here and are looking forward to the games. We are going to get used to the time difference over the next few days and we will be raring to go in the first game. Any trophy that Liverpool enter or are involved in, we want to win it. We're not here for a holiday."
Gerrard is desperate to do what no other Liverpool player before him has done and lift the trophy that officially confirms what the fans have been saying for years – that Liverpool really are the best team in the world.
Phil Thompson and Phil Neal both captained the Reds in Japan's Toyota Cup during the early 80s but neither defender could inspire their respective Liverpool sides to victory in a one-off game against the South American champions.
With a new format featuring not just the current European and South American champions but also the best teams from Australia, Costa Rica, Saudi Arabia and Africa, Gerrard is hoping it can be third time lucky for Liverpool.
"All the players have a great incentive to go and win it and everyone is looking forward to it. We want to add it to the Champions League trophy we won.
"Hopefully it will be a case of third time lucky for us and we can win it. I know we've had a couple of cracks at this before and we haven't been successful but we feel as though we've got the right team and the right attitude to win it. We don't really know too much about the other teams but sometimes that can help you. We won't be going into the games worrying about the opposition and we can relax and do what we do normally.
"I am always hungry to win more trophies with Liverpool and so is the manager and all the other players. Being a footballer, the idea is to win as many trophies and as many medals as possible and this is another opportunity to win another cup and get another winners medal. We are already the Champions of Europe and we want to do Europe really proud and go and win it."
Asked during a press conference at the team hotel what impact the 12,000 mile trip would have on Liverpool's domestic campaign, Gerrard was keen to stress that when you're winning matches, no one complains about tiredness.
"There is a slight concern as we have played a lot of games but it helps if you are winning games an enjoying your football. We are playing well, keeping clean sheets and performing well at home and in Europe and as long as that continues, you won't find anyone in this team moaning about too many matches.
"The team has got a lot of strengths and we are doing very well at the moment. We are creating lots of chances, the goals are going in, we are mean in defence and we have some exciting players going forward. There is still a lot of room for improvement but I think the next few years will be really exciting for us."
Luis looks knackerd.
