Shinozuka has made an excellent start to the Dakar Rally

Nissan driver Giniel De Villiers came second, with Mitsubishi driver Miki Biasion third.

Scotland's Colin McRae, starting his first Dakar Rally after failing to land a World Championship drive, posted the 28th fastest time.

Italy's Matteo Graziani, riding for the KTM team, was the surprise winner of the motorbike prologue.

Shinozuka's win will go some way toward erasing memories of last year, when he was forced to abandon the race after a crash.

McRae, the 1995 World Rally champion, performed well in a car significantly larger than the rally machines he is used to.

The prologue determined the starting order for Friday's 25km second stage from Narbonne, before a 538km link across the Spanish border to Castellon.

The 2004 race has 17 stages, 14 in Africa, with a total distance of 11,163.5km (6936.7 miles).

Selected results:

Cars

1. Kenjiro Shinozuka (JPN) Nissan 1min 41.62sec
2. Giniel De Villiers (RSA) Nissan + 0.53sec
3. Miki Biasion (ITA) Mitsubishi + 0.84
4. Hiroshi Masuoka (JPN) Mitsubishi + 1.77
5. Luc Alphand (FRA) BMW + 3.36

Motorbikes

1. Matteo Graziani (ITA) KTM 1:23.90
2. Cyril Despres (FRA) KTM + 7.84sec
3. Richard Sainct (FRA) KTM + 9.31
4. Isidre Esteve Pujol (SPA) KTM + 9.67
5. David Fretigne (FRA) Yamaha + 9.80