A great throng of Chinese tourists swelled the number of foreigners visiting Japan to a record high in July. According to the Japan National Tourism Organization, nearly 1.27 million foreigners visited Japan in July, up 27 percent from a year earlier, with 281,200 Chinese tourists visiting the country, double the number that visited Japan 12 months ago.
A survey conducted by US travel information website Travelzoo showed that Japan is the most popular overseas travel destination for Chinese tourists this year, up from last year's ranking of 10th to share the No 1 spot with the United States.
However, the rising number of visitors from China does not mean the Chinese are oblivious to the tensions between their country and its neighbor. The opinion polls released in Tokyo on Tuesday found that more than 80 percent of Chinese people had bad feelings about Japan thanks to the territorial dispute between the two countries and Japanese leaders' perception of its war history.
Still, they are level-headed pragmatists and know a country is not necessarily its government.
Japan offers in abundance what increasingly sophisticated Chinese travelers are looking for-cuisine, culture, and omotenashi, the Japanese spirit of hospitality, as well as high-quality products, since the weakened Japanese yen has also made Japan a shopping paradise for Chinese consumers, many of whom have acquired a taste for spending their ever-growing disposable income on luxury goods.
And this positive trend can serve as the basis for melting the tension between the two nations if the Japanese government has the genuine intention of improving Japan's relations with China.
Last Wednesday, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe revamped his Cabinet and the leadership of his Liberal Democratic Party.
Two veteran lawmakers Abe appointed to senior LDP positions are known for their congenial attitudes towards China. One of them, Sadakazu Tanigaki, who was appointed the ruling LDP's secretary general and minister of state for revitalizing rural communities, is said to favor a more diplomatic approach with China.
This part of the reshuffle has raised expectations in Japan of the Abe Cabinet introducing measures to really thaw the frozen relations between the two countries.
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