One of the immutable principles of cosmology states that wherever you are in the universe, everything appears to be streaming away from you. This certainly seems to be the case with Japan.
China and Russia appear to be streaming away the fastest, though, paradoxically, they are just about Japan's closest neighbors in the geographical firmament. Here are two glaring examples of the old adage that close neighbors don't necessarily make for close friends.
While the government policies of China are distancing their populations from Japan, their boats are streaming right toward these islands on a course well described by a phrase we used to use in elementary school: "accidentally on purpose."