Anti-Chinese sentiment in Japan

Practitioners of kokugaku placed particular importance on Shinto,[3] Japan's indigenous religion,[4] seen as a bulwark against foreign, and especially Confucian and Buddhist, influences.

At the same time as this, China had begun to sink into a state of deep dysfunction, and was perceived as a declining power by many, including Japan.

[citation needed] The World War II also compounded on this, resulting in the loss of life of more than 20 million mostly civilian Chinese people.

China renounced reparations for the Second World War, partly to avoid appearing less generous than Taiwan — which had earlier done the same — and to strengthen its position against the Soviet Union.

The reason partly stems from the Japanese history textbook controversies and official visits to the Yasukuni Shrine, as well as Chinese use of anti-Japan sentiment to buttress their own domestic politics.