Borthwick was never likely to make radical changes from the team who did so well to beat Argentina 27-10 in their opener while playing with 14 men for 77 minutes, especially for a potentially tricky fixture against Japan, where victory would all but secure their place in the quarter-finals.
Tough-tackling Ludlam looked a bundle of energy as he somehow squeezed in 12 tackles in his 15 minutes off the bench on Saturday and comes in at number eight.
Ben Earl moves to the open-side flank in place of Curry, who is banned for this game and the next against Chile after his red card on Saturday.
In the team named on Friday, Billy Vunipola, the only specialist number eight in the World Cup squad and free to play having served a two-match ban, is among the replacements, where Ben Youngs replaces Danny Care as scrumhalf cover for Alex Mitchell.
Sinckler has recovered from a chest injury to take over at tighthead while Marler, given a huge roar of welcome by the England fans in Marseille, makes only his second start since the 2020 Six Nations having slipped out of favour under Eddie Jones.
"After another good week’s preparation in Le Touquet we are looking forward to the challenge of playing a Japan side that will be full of confidence following their comprehensive win over Chile," Borthwick said.
Sunday's game will be the fourth full-cap international between the teams, England having won the previous three handsomely, including a 52-13 Twickenham thrashing last November when Japan's scrum was found badly wanting.
While England got into the mood with their Argentina win, Japan had to work hard for their 42-12 victory against spirited tournament debutants Chile.
That was their seventh successive pool win after they won all four on home soil in 2019 before losing to South Africa in the quarter-finals.
Their form since then has been poor - they have not beaten a tier one side and lost to Samoa, Fiji and Italy in their warm-ups for the tournament in France.
Nevertheless, nobody in the sport will ever forget their stunning wins over South Africa in 2015 and Ireland and Scotland four years ago and England will show them maximum respect.
"Japan attack in a different way to many teams that you play against, both internationally and in the Premiership," England assistant coach Richard Wigglesworth said this week.
"It's a really good test for us and we're excited to get stuck into it. And on the other side of the ball, every team presents a slightly different challenge with how they defend and how they kick, so we'll be ready for that when it comes."
England team:
15. Freddie Steward (Leicester Tigers, 27 caps)
14. Jonny May (Gloucester Rugby, 74 caps)
13. Joe Marchant (Stade Francais, 20 caps)
12. Manu Tuilagi (Sale Sharks, 54 caps)
11. Elliot Daly (Saracens, 60 caps)
10. George Ford – vice-captain (Sale Sharks, 86 caps)
9. Alex Mitchell (Northampton Saints, 7 caps)
1. Joe Marler (Harlequins, 83 caps)
2. Jamie George (Saracens, 80 caps)
3. Kyle Sinckler (Bristol Bears, 63 caps)
4. Maro Itoje (Saracens, 71 caps)
5. Ollie Chessum (Leicester Tigers, 12 caps)
6. Courtney Lawes – captain (Northampton Saints, 101 caps)
7. Ben Earl (Saracens, 19 caps)
8. Lewis Ludlam (Northampton Saints, 22 caps)
Replacements:
16. Theo Dan (Saracens, 4 caps)
17. Ellis Genge – vice-captain (Bristol Bears, 53 caps)
18. Will Stuart (Bath Rugby, 30 caps)
19. George Martin (Leicester Tigers, 4 caps)
20. Billy Vunipola (Saracens, 70 caps)
21. Ben Youngs (Leicester Tigers, 124 caps)
22. Marcus Smith (Harlequins, 25 caps)
23. Ollie Lawrence (Bath Rugby, 15 caps)
