Anti-Japanese sentiment in China
[citation needed] However, anti-Japanese sentiment significantly decreased by 2018; a poll done in 2018 by Genron NPO showed that 42.2% of Chinese people looked positively to Japan, up from 31.5% in 2017.
[citation needed] However, due to the Meiji Restoration, Japan became a modern power and it also attempted to expand its empire in Asia, including China.
[4][5] There is deep resentment over the veneration of Imperial Japanese war veterans in the Yasukuni Shrine, where a number of war criminals are enshrined, treated as kami or important spirits, and the fact that the shrine openly states that the purpose of Japanese military involvement in Asia was to bring prosperity and liberation to Asians.
This is further exacerbated by attempts to whitewash Japan's role in the war in certain school history textbooks, such as by softening some statements and removing others.
As examples, critics point to the withdrawal of Iris Chang's The Rape of Nanking from planned publication and the censorship of scenes of the Nanjing Massacre from the Japanese theatrical release of The Last Emperor.
About 25 percent of the funding for all of China's infrastructure projects between 1994 and 1998 — including roads, railways, telecom systems and harbours — came from Japan.
The court said the state was not obligated to conduct a search or to pay damages "because it cannot be said that the defendants could have prevented the outcome" of the death and injuries in the case, according to Japan Times.
Abe told reporters in his Tokyo office that he shared the belief that there was no direct proof of the military's involvement, stating: "The fact is, there is no evidence to prove there was coercion," he said according to LA Times.
[22][23] Abe said the government would cooperate with a study to be conducted by a group of Liberal Democratic party MPs who are skeptical of claims that thousands of Asian women were forced to work in Japanese military brothels before and during the Second World War according to Guardian.
Abe told the legislature when pressed on what he would say to the aging survivors of the "comfort women" system: "As the prime minister, I am apologizing here" according to the Los Angeles Times.
[25] In 2024 a book titled Anti-Japan Tribalism was published that critiques widely accepted anti-Japanese narratives in Korea, arguing they are rooted in historical distortions and nationalist agendas.
While the book addresses South Korea, it underscores how similar narratives in other East Asian nations, such as China, have contributed to persistent anti-Japanese sentiment.
Except for the match against Bahrain, Japanese supporters were instructed by the local police not to use "banners, flags, musical instruments or wear team uniforms" and were asked to refrain from cheering.
After Japan defeated China 3–1 in the final, Chinese fans were enraged and the Japanese ambassador's car was severely damaged.
[44] During the 2008 WAFF Cup, Chinese fans booed the Japanese anthem again in Japan's first match against North Korea in Chongqing on February 17.
During the February 4 match in Hong Kong, Messi was not active due to an injury, which caused fans to demand refunds of 4,880 HKD ($US 624) while also booing him and attacking promotional posters featuring him.
[52] In one situation involving a more moderate anti-Japanese war film, the government of China temporarily banned 2000's Devils on the Doorstep, partly because it depicted a Japanese soldier being friendly with Chinese villagers.
[54] A scandal in the Xuanzang Temple in which some Imperial Japanese Army generals who were convicted war criminals were memorialized contributed to anti-Japanese sentiment.
