Andy Murray returned to action with a comfortable win as Great Britain ended day one of their Davis Cup defence tied at 1-1 against Japan in Birmingham.
The Scot, 28, beat world number 87 Taro Daniel 6-1 6-3 6-1 in his first match since becoming a father last month.
World number six Kei Nishikori brought the visitors level with a 6-3 7-5 7-6 (7-3) win over Dan Evans in Birmingham.
Victory in the best-of-five first-round tie will secure a quarter-final place and World Group status in 2017.
Dom Inglot and Jamie Murray are scheduled to take on Yoshihito Nishioka and Yasutaka Uchiyama in Saturday's doubles contest, although the line-ups can change up to an hour before the 14:00 GMT start time.