Wales captain Dewi Lake insisted that his side are "no longer accepting mediocrity" after Saturday's 28-21 victory over Japan in the Nations Championship.
Wales's success, thanks to a Josh Adams double, was their second in the tournament after overcoming Fiji in July before losses to Argentina and South Africa.
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It marked just a fourth victory in 13 Tests since Steve Tandy took charge as head coach last year.
"We have almost said: 'we're not accepting mediocrity anymore'," hooker Lake told S4C.
"We've had enough time together to no longer be a team that's building, improving. At some time, we have to put the foot down and say it's not good enough.
"This is the campaign to do that."
Adams crossed either side of the interval with prop Archie Griffin and fellow winger Louis Rees-Zammit also on the scoreboard.
Wales entertain New Zealand next weekend, eyeing an unlikely first victory over the All Blacks since 1953.
Eddie Jones's Japan remain on just one success from four fixtures in the tournament.
Replacement scrum-half Kenta Fukuda's 75th-minute effort caused Wales a late scare but was only enough to secure a losing bonus point.
The Brave Blossoms head to England next Saturday.
"That could have been a historic win for us," Jones told reporters. "We weren't quite good enough.
"It was a missed opportunity."
Tandy started with physical pair Eddie James and Max Llewellyn in midfield, prioritising power over the playmaking ability of Ben Thomas.
Australian Jones made five changes from the defeat to Fiji two weeks ago, including handing fly-half Riku Kitahara a Test debut.
A sparse crowd was present at the Millennium Stadium, underlining the negative atmosphere surrounding Welsh rugby due to poor results from the Test team and the threat of losing one of the country's four professional sides.
Wales took the lead three times during the first half, first through Griffin and then the 31-year-old Adams.
But Japan hit back through Ben Gunter and Warner Dearns.
Rees-Zammit stepped over moments ahead of the break for his first Test try in a year.
Adams's match-winning score came with 11 minutes to go after a superb break from deep by full-back Blair Murray, and a final pass from influential scrum-half Tomos Williams, who had also set up Griffin early on.
With seconds left on the clock, Adams showed his defensive ability, claiming a turnover penalty to make sure of the victory.
