Japan have put themselves into a brilliant chance of claiming a quarter-final spot, after putting Samoa to the sword at Stadium MK.
The Japanese were stronger in almost every facet of the game, with their Pacific Island opponents on the wrong end of Craig Joubert's whistle on multiple occassions.
Michael Leitch was excellent again for Japan, who have tripled their amount of World Cup wins at this competition, having only previously beaten Zimbabwe in 1991 before this tournament began.
Samoa's discipline allows opponents to build big lead
The first half was extremely one-sided, with Japan dominating possession and territory against their much-fancied Samoan counterparts.
After an early Ayumu Goromaru penalty had given the Japanese the lead, Samoa then found themselves down to 13 men, after Faifili Levave and Sakaria Taulafo were yellow carded for dangerous tackles.
With the Samoans short-handed, Japan took advantage, being awarded a penalty try after a dominant scrum after a period of close misses on their opponent's line.
Another Goromaru penalty extended the lead, before Japan all but ended Samoa's hopes before the break, when Akihito Yamada beat the would-be-tackle of Alesana Tuilagi to go over in the corner.
Japan keep it tight to confirm second win
The second-half was not one for the neutral, with Japan keeping it tight, and Samoa continuing to make basic errors stifling any chance of a possible comeback.
Goromaru added a pair of penalties to extend the lead to 26 before Samoa finally got on the scoresheet when their best player Paul Perez scored a try which was not converted by Tusi Pisi.
Just for good measure, Samoa ended the game with 14 men, after Filo Paulo was sin-binned for reckless rucking on a sorry day for the Samoans.
For Japan, a final game against the USA gives them a decent shot of qualifying from the group, depending on the results Scotland and South Africa achieve in their final two matches.