But since 2009, the report said, territorial disputes over the Diaoyu Islands have sometimes surpassed the historic factors to be a major bone of contention shadowing bilateral relations.

In 2011, after the vessel collision, 58.4 percent of the Chinese ordinary people chose Diaoyu as the major obstacle in the way of fostering improved China-Japan relations, a sharp rise from 36.5 percent in 2010.

A similar change happened in Japan, with 63.2 of the Japanese public polled choosing Diaoyu as the stumbling block in 2011, compared with 34.6 percent a year before.

The survey also showed, from 2005 to 2008, most Chinese, both ordinary civilians and intellectuals, branded Japan with the word "militarism".

But since 2009, most people tend to describe Japan as a "capitalist" country.

"Less emphasis on historical factors (affecting Sino-Japanese relations) does not mean that history is not important. Rather, it means that intellectuals on both sides recognize that bilateral cooperation cannot be persistently hindered by the past. Sino-Japanese relationship is just too important to let fail," said Pang, the social scientist.--

Military issues

Both ordinary people and intellectuals among the Japanese respondents chose strengthened Chinese military power as the most-cited reason for Tokyo's alert to possible "Chinese military threats", with the figures climbing up to 60 percent (common people) and 77.5 percent (intellectuals) in 2011.

In a November interview with Financial Times, Japanese Prime Minister Noda called for closer cooperation among regional neighbors to persuade China's military to abide by "common maritime rules".

"(We will) appeal in all kinds of meetings for China to abide by the rules," Noda said. "The important thing is to create an environment where China will make a positive contribution to peace and stability in the Asia-Pacific region."

Yang Bojiang, a professor of Japanese studies at the Beijing-based University of International Relations, said Noda's remarks were one of several since he took office in early September in which he bluntly expressed concern over the speed and "opaqueness" of China's military development.

Japan's Self-Defense Forces are deploying more forces from northern Hokkaido to the nation's southwestern islands, a move that is in line with a medium- and long-term shift in Japan's defense strategy from the north to the southwest, as per the new National Defense Program Outline adopted last year.

Seeing China as a potential rival contributed considerably to the strategic shift, said Liu Jiangyong, a professor of Japanese studies at Tsinghua University.

Still, in a positive move, a Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force destroyer came calling on a friendly visit to a port in Qingdao, Shandong province, on Monday, the first such tour to China since 2008. Qingdao is the headquarters of the North China Sea Fleet.

The visit marked a revival of mutual visits between Chinese and Japanese warships. These had ceased since the 2010 vessel collision.

"The contrast between the views of Japanese intellectuals and common people in the poll shows the extent to which a deep knowledge and understanding of another culture can help forge a real image of the other," Pang said.

"In that regard, the visit of the Japanese ship can be a good start."

Write to the reporter at lixiaokun@chinadaily.com.cn