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"About 150 years ago, Japan, an island nation, found itself in a fateful crisis under the threat of Western colonialists. Japan turned this crisis into a historical opportunity to discard the old and regenerate itself, thereby building Asia's first modern nation."

Thus began the opening narration of a TV program broadcast last autumn by China Central Television, the country's leading network. It was the seventh installment of a documentary series entitled Rise of the Great Powers in modern times.

The objective viewpoint that set the series apart from traditional history programs shown on Chinese TV attracted much public attention.

The section on Japan, titled "100-Year Restoration", went to great lengths to explain the "Iwakura mission", a nearly two-year journey through the United States and Europe by Meiji Restoration statesman Iwakura Tomomi and the work of new nation building.

Postwar Japan

After describing Japan's attempts to become an affluent military power through its invasion of other Asian nations, the broadcast concentrated on Japan's postwar development. It showed how Japan, ruled by a constitution that gives sovereignty to the people and renounces war, reemerged as a major power by building on strengths developed since the Meiji Restoration of 1868.

The program may signal a newfound willingness by China to judge Japan as it really is. This was unimaginable just a few years ago.

One apparent factor behind this new stance toward Japan is the change of leadership in Tokyo. Former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi infuriated China with his obstinate refusal to stop visiting Yasukuni Shrine.

His successor, Shinzo Abe, visited China within weeks of taking office. Abe's visit prompted Beijing to make renewed efforts to improve its ties with Tokyo.

There are also signs of change in sentiment toward Japan among the Chinese people. For instance, a sharply increased number of Chinese applied for the Japanese language proficiency test held in December. Chinese applicants surpassed 200,000, more than in any other country or area. In Shanghai, where some 6,000 Japanese companies are operating, 35,000 citizens applied for the test.

Increased contact with Japan fosters diversity in the Chinese people's perceptions about Japan. That makes it harder for Chinese to label Japan through stereotyped images. This trend is likely to accelerate. For example, a new radio program was launched in Beijing on New Year's Eve called Tokyo Music Square. It features popular Japanese songs and hot topics about Japan.

The radio show is hosted by nonfiction writer Akiko Aoki, who regularly travels between Japan and China, and Zhao Haidong. They were chosen because another radio program they hosted in the past produced a legion of ardent fans of Japanese pop music in China. Hoping to repeat that success, the Japanese government proposed the new program, and China agreed.

Japan pop music

"I want to use this program to introduce ordinary aspects of Japan and ordinary Japanese people to Chinese audiences," says Aoki, "because even basic facts about Japan have not been made widely known among Chinese people."

Meanwhile, some Japanese universities are using teleconferencing systems and other means to increase opportunities for their students to have direct contact with China. For the past several years, Tokyo's Waseda and Keio universities have jointly offered lectures featuring teleconference discussions between their students and those of Peking and Tsinghua universities in Beijing, along with universities in Taipei and South Korea. In these lectures, the students discuss a variety of familiar topics in both Japanese and Chinese.

Kazuko Sunaoka, a Waseda University professor of Chinese language who had initiated this program, says students of the two countries often discover they have much in common through these bilingual conversations.

It is not easy for Japanese and Chinese to really understand each other because of differences in political systems and memories about the war. Still, various tentative efforts are being made in both countries to observe each other more accurately for better understanding. These important efforts should be encouraged and supported.

(China Daily via agencies January 19, 2007)