Anti-Chinese sentiment has been present inJapan since ancient times. While Japan was historically influenced by China with its writing system, architecture, and religion, negative sentiment of China has persisted to modern times, due to nationalistic and historical disputes.
Beginning in theTokugawa period (1600 to 1868), Japan left a prolonged period of civil war and began to prosper as a unified and stable state.[1] This period saw an attempt to remove foreign influences onJapanese culture, including the influence ofChinese culture. During this time, Japan maintained apolicy of self-isolation, leading to the further development of its culture with little foreign influence. A rise in national self-respect at this time resulted in Japan viewing itself as the centre of a "civilised world surrounded by barbarians."[2]
A key proponent of these movements and schools of thought was the cultural movement and branch of scholarship known askokugaku (国学), translating literally as "national studies", and translated commonly as "Japanese studies".Kokugaku aimed through its practitioners (known askokugakushu) to distinguish between a perception of genuine Japanese culture in contrast to what was considered as foreign culture,[3] with the resulting goal being to revert Japanese culture to one devoid of foreign influence.
Practitioners ofkokugaku placed particular importance onShinto,[3] Japan's indigenous religion,[4] seen as a bulwark against foreign, and especiallyConfucian andBuddhist, influences. However, by the timekokugaku developed, Shinto had already been heavily influenced by both Confucianism and Buddhism;[5] due to this, the net effect ofkokugaku scholarship and its achievements is debated.
Following theMeiji Restoration and the abandonment of its self isolationist policy, Japan pursued a policy of aggressive Westernisation and industrialisation in effort to match the progress of Western nations. At the same time as this, China had begun to sink into a state of deep dysfunction, and was perceived as a declining power by many, including Japan.[citation needed]
After theQing dynasty lost theFirst Sino-Japanese War, Chinese officials and generals were depicted inillustrations as slant-eyed and incompetent, while Japanese soldiers were portrayed as tall and more European.[6]
TheWorld War II also compounded on this, resulting in the loss of life of more than 20 million mostly civilian Chinese people. The property loss suffered by the Chinese was valued at US$383 billion at the currency exchange rate in July 1937, roughly 50 times the GDP of Japan at that time (US$7.7 billion).[7]
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Following the end of the World War II, openly Sinophobic sentiments were stifled and became taboo in mainstream Japanese media, despite the opposing positions taken by Japan and thePeople's Republic of China in theCold War. Use of the formerly common wordShina (支那) (lit., "China") has all but disappeared except in a handful of cases, such as the Japanese name for "South China Sea" and an alternative term forramen.[vague]
Following the Cold War, there was little contact between Japan and the People's Republic of China, and little discussion of China until the relationship between the countries was normalised in 1972, following a surge of interest within Japan about its neighbour. China renounced reparations for the Second World War, partly to avoid appearing less generous thanTaiwan — which had earlier done the same — and to strengthen its position against theSoviet Union. The response was of considerable gratitude and goodwill in Japan, withSinophobia confined toanti-communism. Public animosity toward the People's Republic of China was minimal compared to the public animosity held against the Soviet Union, and a friendly mood prevailed.[8] Improvements were also seen in social attitudes toward ethnic Chinese residents of Japan, along with other minorities such asZainichi Koreans and theAinu people.[citation needed]
However, since 2000, Japan has seen a gradual resurgence of anti-Chinese sentiments, coupled with the effects of an increasingly tense political relationship between Japan and the People's Republic of China. The reason partly stems from theJapanese history textbook controversies and official visits to theYasukuni Shrine, as well as Chinese use of anti-Japan sentiment to buttress their own domestic politics.[9] Theanti-Japanese riots of 2005 are cited as raising tensions within China and fear of China within the Japanese public. ManyJapanese nationalist groups, such asGanbare Nippon andZaitokukai, are anti-Chinese, with data from the Pew Global Attitude Project (2008) showing that 85% of Japanese people surveyed held unfavourable views of China, and that 73% held unfavourable views of Chinese people.[citation needed]
Surveys conducted by thePew Research Center show that 88% of respondents in Japan held an unfavorable view of China in 2021 compared to a historical peak of 93% in 2013.[10] According to aGenron NPO poll in 2024, 89% of Japanese people have a negative view of China.[11] A survey published in 2025 by the Pew Research Center found that 86% of Japanese people had an unfavorable view of China, while 13% had a favorable view, the most negative of any nation surveyed.[12]
The Economist has written that according to a survey done in 2021, more than 40% of Japanese aged 18–29 feel an "affinity" towards China, compared to only 13% for those aged in their 60s and 70s.[13]
