The technical director of the Japanese FA has made a plea to the government to allow Kyogo Furuhashi to join up with the squad for next month's qualifiers.
The Celtic star is a regular in the squad and the rescheduled winter break overlaps with his nation's World Cup qualifiers against China and Saudi Arabia.
It looked as though Ange Postecoglou would be given a reprieve though as new Covid-19 restrictions came into place in Japan and affected the national team.
They have already announced they will use domestic players only for a friendly against Uzbekistan as part of a training camp next month.
But they are desperate for their foreign-based stars like Furuhashi to play in their two vital World Cup matches - meaning he could miss the clash with Rangers.
Currently, Japan have a ban in place for entry to the country for all foreigners and that is set to remain in place until the start of next month at least.
But Japanese FA technical director Sorimach will present a special case to their government to exempt their squad members based outside the country from being part of the normal restrictions.
He said: "The Japanese government should know the significance of our participation in the Qatar World Cup.
"I believe we will negotiate various conditions for the games against China and Saudi Arabia. It is imperative we have our best squad for the game.
"At the moment I am praying and keeping an hourly watch on the omicron trends."
Celtic have also been strongly linked with Japanese international teammates Reo Hatate and Daizen Maeda too, who would both be in the same situation as Furuhashi
