China and Japan should heed the call of the times

Few Japanese have enjoyed such adulation among Chinese as Ken Takakura, a master of underacting who died at the age of 83 in Tokyo last month. In the days just after the "cultural revolution" (1966-76) when the Chinese people longed for a new icon, Takakura appeared on the silver screen as a revelation.

The Junya Sato film, Kimi yo Fundo no Kawa o Watare (Manhunt in English), he starred in was released in China in 1978 and transformed him into an instant hero. His role of an honest but tough public prosecutor on the run to clear his name after being falsely arrested on corruption, robbery and rape charges endeared him to the Chinese audience. Such was his magnetism that the beige-color coat he wore, copied by tailors across China, sold out like hot cakes.

Six years before the release of Manhunt, China and Japan had normalized their diplomatic ties. The scars of Japanese atrocities on China before and during World War II had not yet healed in 1972. But after politicians on both sides agreed to renew their relations, a rising Japan desperate to exploit overseas markets and cheap labor fell in instant love with an awakening China that was looking for capital and technology from across the world.

Later, Toshiba, Hitachi, Panasonic, Sony and some other Japanese companies became household names in China. In particular, Japanese cartoons are part of the collective memory of the entire generation born in China from the late 1970s to the late 1980s.

In those days, one seemed surrounded by Japanese brand names and products, giving the feeling that Japan represented courtesy, amiability and technological advancement.

That feeling has become alien among Chinese today, especially because Japan has been trying to inflict more wounds on China. How did this change come about?

The disappearing of Japanese cartoons from China from the mid-1990s could be seen as a turning point in Sino-Japan ties. Then, the turn of the century saw Japanese politicians visiting Yasukuni Shrine, which honors 14 Class-A Japanese war criminals. This was followed by the dispute over the Diaoyu Islands and Japanese right-wing forces' efforts to amend the pacifist Constitution and transform Japan into a military power again.