Japan looks back on 50 years of ties with China (Video)

(29 Sep 2022) RESTRICTION SUMMARY: ASSOCIATED PRESS Tokyo - 24 September 2022 1. Various of restaurant booth at Japan-China Exchange Festival HEADLINE: Japan looks back on 50 years of ties with China 2. Wide of tents at festival 3. Various of people eating ANNOTATION: The ties between Japan and China remain complicated and often contradictory 50 years after the two Asian countries normalized relations. ANNOTATION: Japanese flocked to a festival last weekend to try Chinese food, even as they worried about the growing military prowess of their much larger neighbor. 4. SOUNDBITE (Japanese): Momoe Unou, college student: "I don't just listen to the news. I also have exchanges with exchange students (from China). So it's not like my image of China became worse because of it. But when I watch the news, I would have thought it (China) was scary." ASSOCIATED PRESS ARCHIVE:Tokyo 22 September 2012 5. Pan down from Japanese flags to people marching to protest against China's claim over disputed islands ANNOTATION: Politics influences people and critical views are on the rise as the two countries mark the 50th anniversary. 6. Close of banner that reads (English) "Japanese Media! Shame! Do cover more about China's true state of affairs. China's military threat!" ANNOTATION: A survey last year found that 90% of Japanese had a negative image of China, ASSOCIATED PRESS Tokyo - 24 September 2022 7. Mid of booth 8. Close of panda art ANNOTATION: and 66% of Chinese felt the same way toward Japan, up from 53% the previous year. 9. Mid of booth 10. Mid of person walking 11. Mid of performers in costumes ANNOTATION: The Japan-China Exchange Festival returned last weekend after a two-year hiatus because of the COVID-19 pandemic. ANNOTATION: Organizers hope it will help restart cultural exchange despite tense political ties as Japan is pulled into a growing rivalry between the U.S. and China. STORYLINE: On the streets of Tokyo and Beijing, the ties between Japan and China remain complicated and often contradictory, 50 years after the two Asian countries normalized relations as part of the process that brought Communist China into the international fold. Chinese official media and textbooks memorialize the victims of Japan's brutal invasion during World War II, even as young urbanites slurp "ramen" soup noodles in a two-story restaurant row made to look like Tokyo's narrow alleyways. In the real Tokyo, Japanese flocked to a festival last weekend to try Chinese dumplings, even as they worried about the growing military prowess of their much larger neighbor and its designs on the self-governing island of Taiwan - which happens to be a former Japanese colony. Politics influences people and critical views are on the rise as the two countries mark the 50th anniversary on Thursday of the agreement to establish diplomatic relations, which followed U.S. President Richard Nixon's groundbreaking visit to China earlier in 1972. A survey last year by Japanese think tank Genron NPO found that 90% of Japanese had a negative image of China, and 66% of Chinese felt the same way toward Japan, up from 53% the previous year. Japanese college student Momoe Unou went to the Tokyo festival to scout out the food - she wants to sell Chinese dumplings and buns at an upcoming event with exchange students from China. Until a high school trip to China, her view of the country was based solely on textbooks and TV news - and it wasn't a positive one. Once there, she was struck by the eagerness of her Chinese counterparts to communicate, prompting her to major in Asian studies. Subscribe for more Breaking News: http://smarturl.it/AssociatedPress Website: https://apnews.com Twitter: https://twitter.com/AP Facebook: https://facebook.com/APNews Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/APNews/ You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/593861bc8dcb4a91a8afa018570e81ec