Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi said Wednesday that no decision has been made over whether he will accept his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi's invitation of an official visit to China.
The ruling Liberal Democratic Party has taken a cautious stance on the request as the two countries remain at odds over territorial and human rights issues.
Masahisa Sato, an LDP lawmaker who heads the party's Foreign Affairs Division, said it is "a very sensitive time," although Japan and China will mark the 50th anniversary of the normalization of diplomatic relations between them next year.