BERLIN, July 29, 2008 (AFP) - The power of the yen was demonstrated by Bayern Munich on Tuesday as the Bundesliga champions jetted off to Japan to play a single friendly against J-League runners-up Urawa Red Diamonds.

In total, the 39-strong squad will fly for more than 75 hours and cover 10,000 kilometres in just four days to play the Asian champions in a game on Thursday which will boost Bayern's profile - and therefore revenue from replica shirts - in the far East.

Urawa have had a partnership agreement with the German giants since 2005 and the 2007 Asian champions are one of the best supported teams in the J-League with average gates of 46,000.

Bayern are without seven injured stars including France's Franck Ribery, Italian Luca Toni, German midfielder Tim Borowski and Argentina's Martin Demichelis.

And Jose Ernesto Sosa (Argentina) and Breno (Brazil) are also missing as they prepare to take part in next month's Olympic Games.

'It is already a stress for the squad,' said manager Uli Hoeness on Bayern's website.

'But if we want to be a player on the global stage, from time to time we have to go to face international opposition in far away places.'

Former Germany coach Jurgen Klinsmann, who took over as Bayern's boss on July 1, said the fixture was a distraction as he prepares his team for their opening Bundesliga fixture on August 15 at Munich's Allianz Arena.

'We respect our partnership with Urawa and this date was decided more than a year ago,' said Klinsmann.

'But it is not ideal as some of our players have only recently returned from holidays after the European Championships.'

The German double winners will taken on the Japanese who are currently second in the table.

'The Japanese are in the middle of their season and are one of the best teams in Asia, they will be a hard team to beat,' said Klinsmann.