Frank Dancevic clawed back a point for Canada as he stopped Go Soeda 6-4, 7-6 (7-2), 6-1 on Friday to leave the visitors 1-1 with Japan in their Davis Cup World Group tie.
Japanese number one Kei Nishikori had given the hosts a 1-0 lead by beating Peter Polansky 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 as the untested Canadian number 135 took the place of Milos Raonic, out with a lingering ankle injury.
Dancevic took control with his winning second set tiebreaker and was untroubled in the third set on the way to the win.