Honda, Canon, Fuji, Sony, Mitsubishi, Asahi, Sumitomo, Shiseido, Square Enix and Daiichi Pharmaceutical apart from being Japanese, these brands have something else in common. They are all immensely popular in China.

Chinese consumers, with a collective memory of the eight-year Japanese invasion and Japanese prime ministers' constant visits to the Yasukuni Shrine that honors war criminals, have mixed feelings toward these leading brands.

To a recent poll by China Daily on its website (www.chinadaily.com.cn), which posed the question "Have you bought any products made in Japan over the past two years, and why?", 45.63 percent of the respondents said "yes", while 44.04 percent said they had not, and the rest of the 1,065 respondents made no comment.

Most people, the survey reveals, buy Japanese products because of their quality, after-sales service, design and affordability.

"I don't care if the product comes from Japan or is made in China, I only care about its quality," said a respondent.

Some consumers believe that the history of war is a political issue, with no relevance to business.

A Japanese goods buyer said: "That's the real world. You buy what's value for money. There's no way one can deny that Japanese goods are quality products," but added that if any Japanese company got involved in politics in a "negative way", its goods would fall from her grace.

But a great number of people said they were in two minds when buying Japanese goods.

"Frankly speaking, products made in Japan are superior to ours, so we tend to buy them. It's rational consumer behavior," a respondent said.

"However, in terms of politics, the Japanese prime ministers' visits to Yasukuni infuriates all Chinese people."

Most respondents who do not buy Japanese commodities share the latter view.

Many of those who participated in the survey believe the two nations share many common interests such as bilateral trade and investment and the Japanese government should strengthen bilateral ties.

Bilateral trade volume reached $207.36 billion in 2006, up 12.5 percent over the previous year. Japan continues to be China's third-largest trade partner. By the end of November 2006, Japanese firms had invested $57.45 billion in China. Japan is now the second-largest source of foreign investment in China, after the United States.

From January to October 2006, Chinese enterprises invested $12.18 million in Japan, with total investment from China reaching $189 million.

This year is the 35th anniversary of the normalization of China-Japan relations and the 70th anniversary of the "July 7 Incident" that marked the beginning of the War of Resistance against Japanese aggression.

(China Daily 04/13/2007 page15)