Like Tokyo's cherry-blossoms-dotted landscape at this time of year, relations between Japan and China appear to have sprung back to life -- and in bloom again after a winter of chill and frost.
But below the surface of the increasingly amicable atmosphere of bilateral ties lie many potential sources of fresh conflict that could easily derail -- and even undo -- the fresh rapprochement.
China's No.2 man, Li Peng will make an eight-day visit to Japan starting Tuesday at the invitation of the heads of the Diet's Lower and Upper Houses, a trip that has been postponed for nearly a year because of a rapid deterioration of relations between the two Asian neighbors.