As a contrarian, I can attest to a lot going on in Japan (the droves of Chinese tourists in Japan department stores is a clear sign, as well).
Earlier this year a Chinese student in Japan was arrested for using a network of remote-controlled computers to steal virtual items in an online game called Lineage II and sell them to other players.
Ishi-hara Shintaro is best known for being an outspoken nationalist who over the years has denied the Rape of Nanking, vilified the communist government of China, and most recently insulted Chinese and Koreans in Japan by saying sangokujin, a derogatory term for foreigners seldom heard since the early post-war years, could run riot in the wake of an earthquake.
Unlike gamers in the United States or Japan, most Chinese gamers play online in part because of strict government regulations limits access to game consoles and software.
They have been at the heart of considerable diplomatic tension between China and Japan, most recently in January when Japan said a Chinese frigate put a radar lock on a Japanese navy ship near the islands - something China disputes.
BBC: China anger at Japan-Taiwan disputed island fishing deal
Of the total, 86, 173 foreign students in Japan were Chinese, up 9 percent year-over-year.
Newspaper reports suggest the defence ministry will increase Japan's submarine fleet for the first time since 1976, adding two submarines to counter both North Korea and increased Chinese naval activity in seas near Japan.
ECONOMIST: Tensions rise over efforts to create a new Chinese lake
Whether the Chinese navy projects greater influence in the East China Sea and Sea of Japan because it bullied its way in or because a desperate Japan invited them in is ultimately immaterial if the end result is that Chinese ships can sail more freely and in greater numbers.
The Chinese investors are starting with smaller investments in Japan and analyzing the market: more than half of all Japanese companies so far targeted by Chinese investors are SMEs with annual sales of less than JPNY1 billion.
Since the row reignited in September 2012, Chinese vessels have been sailing in and out of what Japan says are its territorial waters around the islands, prompting warnings from Tokyo.
Last fall relations between Beijing and Tokyo reached their worst point in years after Japan detained the Chinese captain of a fishing boat that had collided with Japanese Coast Guard vessels in a disputed stretch of the East China Sea.
In addition to outspending Japanese tourists, however, in the last two months, Chinese arrivals in South Korea may have outnumbered those from Japan.
FORBES: Chinese Tourists Head To South Korea Following Japan Row
Of course, much of spotlight has been on Toyota's rise in Japan, but Chinese automakers also have ambitions.
Many Chinese have a relative who studies in Japan, and hence they have considerable opportunities for direct importation.
FORBES: Chinese Mothers Risk Arrest For Buying Safe Baby Formula
The thinking in the Chinese capital is that Washington, in the 1985 Plaza Accord, ended Japan's bid for global dominance by engineering a fall in the greenback in relation to the yen.
To this day, interestingly, skin whitening products are enormously popular amongst Chinese women, as they also are in Japan and Korea and elsewhere.
Although the store is named Toy Tokyo, Mr. Levarek says he has been buying toys from U.S. and Chinese suppliers in recent years because importing from Japan has been too expensive.
Indexes were down in Hong Kong and Japan while Chinese stocks surged despite further monetary tightening by Chinese central bankers.
Late last year, a Chinese government plane also overflew the islands in what Japan called a violation of its airspace.
BBC: Japan turns Taiwan activists back from disputed islands
Chinese officials will meet with their EU counterparts in Japan for the annual IMF and World Bank meetings this week.
FORBES: Meanwhile, Over A Distressed Europe, It's Super China To The Rescue
When China cut off rare earth exports to Japan last month, the motive was pretty obvious: Japan captured a Chinese fishing boat in waters claimed by both countries.
But a walk down the street or ride on the subway reveals that there are many, many foreigners in Japan who are not ethnic Chinese or Korean permanent residents.
The number of Chinese visitors (mostly in group tours) to Japan rose 36 percent in the first five months of 2010 from the same period last year, to about 600, 000.
FORBES: The Chinese Tourists And Their Yuan Are Coming To Japan
But they are still hugely up on the year and copper bulls think that prices will be supported by the booming Chinese and Indian economies, recovery in Germany and Japan and a growing appetite for commodities as a financial instrument.
Opinion polls indicate that the government's approval ratings have fallen by at least half since September, when it was seen to have mishandled an incident involving a Chinese trawlerman who had been arrested in waters that Japan claims as its own.
In the Chunxiao field, Japan will form a joint venture with two Chinese state-owned companies, with profits split in proportion to their investment.
In September 2010, Japan held a Chinese trawler captain after his boat collided with Japanese coast guard ships near the isles.
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