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STOCKTON – Masafumi Kawaguchi doesn’t mind being a tour guide or an interpreter for the San Francisco 49ers this week – particularly if they’ll help him out in return. 

“I told the guys that if I take care of them in Japan, they’ve got to take care of me with a job,” said Kawaguchi, a veteran NFL Europe linebacker who was assigned to San Francisco for the American Bowl in Osaka on Sunday morning. 

The 49ers leave for Japan on Wednesday. After a few receptions, a bit of sightseeing and a publicity appearance or two, they’ll play an exhibition game against the Washington Redskins at the Osaka Dome. 

A week of culture shock and a 10,778-mile round trip might not be the best way to prepare for an important season, but the 49ers seem excited about the prospect of broadening their horizons. Kawaguchi, who attended a California high school, is just one of many players who will be looking to catch coach Steve Mariucci’s eye. 

“It’s a good chance for the young guys to have a great experience, but everybody has to remember that we’re there to get a job done and get ready for the season,” said defensive lineman Bryant Young, who went to Tokyo with the 49ers in 1995 for an American Bowl. “It’ll be fun, and it’ll be something to remember for your lifetime.” 

Aside from Kawaguchi, reserve defensive back Jimmy Williams is the only San Francisco player who speaks Japanese. Williams, who’s from Louisiana, took Japanese classes in high school and studied in Japan for four months. 

“Everybody’s planning to hang out with Jimmy and that other guy from Japan,” rookie cornerback Mike Rumph said. “I think it will be fun. The only thing I heard to watch out for was that some of the things you buy over there might not work in America.” 

The American Bowl is the first of five exhibition games for the 49ers this summer. Mariucci refuses to complain about San Francisco’s onerous schedule, which includes three games in 10 days to close the preseason, but he shares the sentiments of nearly every coach about the preseason’s length. 

“I believe we could do it in three preseason games,” Mariucci said, citing the numerous minicamps, smaller rosters and year-round conditioning programs that make the lengthy exhibition season less necessary. 

The 49ers will be playing in their eighth American Bowl since 1988. They’ve been everywhere from London to Berlin and Barcelona, but only a handful of the current players were around for San Francisco’s last game abroad — in Vancouver in 1998. 

Aside from Young, only J.J. Stokes, Dana Stubblefield and Derrick Deese were with the 49ers seven years ago for their previous trip to Japan. 

San Francisco will practice twice in the Osaka Dome before the game, but much of the trip will be devoted to receptions and recreation. One player who’s guaranteed to be focused on football is backup quarterback Tim Rattay, who will play most of the game after Pro Bowler Jeff Garcia opens. 

“I feel pretty good about the X’s and O’s, but you don’t really understand the rest of it until you get game experience,” Rattay said. “That’s what I’m waiting for, and that’s what I need. There’s a different level, a different speed in the regular season.” 

Rattay has barely played in two seasons as Garcia’s backup, and the 49ers seem nervous about starting another season with such an inexperienced player in the role. San Francisco drafted Brandon Doman and traded for Cade McNown in the offseason, though Mariucci insists Rattay has job security. 

Rattay, who threw for 12,746 yards and more than 100 TDs during a prolific college career at Louisiana Tech, has thrown just three NFL passes. 

“Yeah, but he completed them all,” Mariucci said. “So many games are so close because of parity in this league that you hardly ever get to play the backup quarterback. I think he’s the guy for that job, and he’ll get a chance to prove it in Japan.”