Schumacher has now claimed pole in six of the last seven races at Suzuka

The Ferrari star came out late in the session at Suzuka to set a time of one minute 33.542 seconds, edging brother Ralf in his Williams by 0.490.

Jenson Button qualified in fifth while David Coulthard starts in eighth.

Saturday qualifying was cancelled because of a typhoon warning. The race proper will begin at 0630 BST.

Australian Mark Webber set the third fastest time for Jaguar in what is their penultimate race before they quit the sport but he was 1.029 secs slower than the lead Ferrari.

Home hero Takuma Sato finished fourth fastest for BAR, while Italian Jarno Trulli claimed an impressive sixth on his debut for Toyota in their home race.

Italian Giancarlo Fisichella finished seventh for Sauber and Canadian Jacques Villeneuve ninth for Renault, with French Toyota driver Olivier Panis 10th.

Several of the drivers found the circuit slippery but Brazilian Felipe Massa was the first to make a major mistake when he slid off the track at the spoon curve and failed to set a time.

With the track drying all the time, those drivers who benefited most were those who were late out in the pre-qualifying session that sets the order for qualifying.

So the worse a driver had finished in China two weeks ago, the better off he was.

The Schumachers had a poor weekend in Shanghai, so were out late in pre-qualifying in Japan.

That gave them the driest track and therefore the best opportunity to set a quick time.

A quick time in pre-qualifying meant they ran late in the qualifying session, which was also run on a drying track.

That, in turn, gave them the best chance to secure places at the front of the grid.