Asked if she had anything else to say, Naito replied they didn't care about the global rankings because everyone was in the same boat after the Rio Olympics.
"We're just here want to win. We definitely want to do that," she said with a beaming smile.
Team USA goal scorer Amanda Dinunzio lauded the victors' solid defence.
"They always tend to have tacklers who just get a touch in there so we really had to focus on protecting the ball and finding some spaces in the circle," Dinunzio said but also acknowledged the American defence for not letting the Japanese run riot.
"Our defence stepped up today because Japan have amazing stick work and they have really quick hands and they are really fast so I think we contained them pretty well," said the 24-year-old from Lancaster, Pennsylvania, who felt offensively the Americans had many opportunities to hit the backboard but failed to convert them into goals.
The first quarter at Unison Stadium, on another balmy 24C but cloudy day, was pretty even although Japan had something to write home about after Motomi Kawamura added to her tournament tally with a field goal in just the fourth minute.
But the Americans came out with a steely resolve in the second quarter and were rewarded just five minutes into the game when striker Dinunzio scored from a well-constructed penalty corner to level, 1-1, although goalkeeper Megumi Kageyama had gallantly deflected Kathleen Sharkey's sweep feed from the top inside of the D.
Dinunzio saluted Sharkey for her initial attempt at goal although playing down her own ability to pounce on the ball, as all good foragers do on attack in anticipation of fumbles.
But Team USA's joy was short lived because in the 22nd minute Kawamura again raided the goalmouth with a crisp chest-high shot which goalkeeper Lauren Blazing palmed away but, regrettably, not beyond the reach of Mami Karino who flicked it past Blazing on the far post for a 2-1 lead.
That half again was even although Japan reinforced why other teams should come up with ways to outfox their defence.
They thwarted four penalty-corner attempts from the Janneke Schopman-coached Americans in what can best be described as full-turf press, where, like in basketball fashion, they seemed content to sit back to absorb raids before counterattacking to catch the spent opposition on the hop.
Take a bow coach Kenji Hasebe because watching the Japanese defence thread the ball out of the Hastings City end of the pavilion corner was a sight to behold.
In what seemed to be a doormat space, three of them looked like they could thread the ball like a bootlace through the eye of a pair of Doc Marten boots.
Dinunzio said coach Schopman had instructed the Melissa Gonzalez-captained side to sniff out "open pockets" in a bid to counter the bunker mentality because her World No 6 troops needed to stop playing catch-up sticks with, at times, one too many touches in the stock exchange, against the World No 10.
"We just wanted to stick to simple hockey, get the ball out fast and get it down the line to really overload the sides to lead in," she said, revealing the rest day tomorrow would provide an opportune time to analyse the game on videotape.
In the 42nd minute, Anna Dessoye gifted Japan a penalty corner with a foot fault in the D but a charging Gonzalez went down from the ensuing passage of play, taking a bullet on the body for the collective, perhaps mindful that another goal would certainly have made it a bridge too far for the Americans.
The brave skipper slowly picked herself up, rubbed the bruised bits and carried on but that quarter had to go to Japan for resilience.
In the final 15-minute spell, a collective groan was heard at the arena as the Americans came close to equalising but keeper Kagemaya was equal to the occasion, thwarting the first shot before the reload went begging outside the near upright.
