Vitriolic spats have marred the relationship between Japan and China whenever matters such as Japan's wartime past and territorial issues come to a head.
Now acrimonious bickering over the Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea has put the bilateral relationship under stress unseen since diplomatic ties were normalized in 1972.
Despite the deeply ingrained prejudice on both sides, some Japanese are doing their best to promote better mutual understanding between the two peoples.