Olympic champions Germany, led by Severin Freund, won the team event Saturday on home soil at Klingenthal, the opening competition of the 2014-15 World Cup season.
The German quartet amassed a total score of 1,098 points to better Japan by 29.1 pts with Norway taking third place on 1,061.2.
Austria, despite the presence of former Olympic and world champion Gregor Schlierenzauer could only finish eighth, while Poland suffered the absence of double world champion Kamil Sotch and failed to qualify for the final round.
The individual season begins on Sunday, at the same venue, although young Norwegian talent Philipp Sjoen will miss the event through injury after crashing heavily in Friday training.