More tolerance, confidence urged

Japan needs to boost its tolerance and confidence in engaging China and its people to promote bilateral ties, particularly at the grass roots, Zhou Muzhi, a Chinese professor at Tokyo Keizai University, told China Daily in an interview.

Zhou, who has studied, worked and lived in Japan since 1988, said the attitude of Japanese society toward China has seen a delicate shift - simultaneous with the ups and downs in Sino-Japan relations in the last decade, as well as affected by Japan's economic situation and its position in the region and the world.

Japan had been nurtured by an irrational "China threat mentality" as its neighboring country China experienced rapid growth in its economy and society, Zhou said.