Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on September 2013

Shame what a spat over a few desolate islands in the Pacific Ocean has led to. Chinese tourists were arriving in Tokyo with fat wallets and a yen for shopping. It was estimated that by 2013, Chinese tourists would overtake South Koreans as the largest nationality of foreign visitors gracing Japan’s shores—a rather giddy projection. For obvious reasons, this didn’t happen. Instead, according to JTA statistics, the number of Chinese visitors dropped by over a quarter this year, even with an attractively weak yen.

Leaving the woes of the travel industry aside, it’s staggering how this political dispute is upsetting what should have been an increasingly positive relationship. Admittedly, many Japanese have less than positive feelings towards China (something poll after poll has found), but it seemed the younger generation was a bit more open-minded about their next-door neighbor. Larger contingents of Japanese students were choosing to study at Chinese universities—nearly a quarter of outbound students, in fact, were heading to the Middle Kingdom in 2007.

And as well they should. The West is stagnant, with little prospect of robust growth. China admittedly is slowing, but there’s still plenty of growth left to do. The Japanese community in Beijing keeps a low profile, but they are behind a number of successful business ventures in the capital, ranging from slick whisky bars to hippy-dippy spas and upscale hair salons. Not to mention—someone’s making all that plastic tat in Daiso, and it sure isn’t Japan.

So why aren’t more young entrepreneurial Japanese taking advantage of the low start-up costs in China? In my experience, it is fear. I recently invited some Japanese friends of mine to come stay with me in Beijing. While I tried to persuade them that Beijing is actually quite safe (especially with a “local” escorting them around), they had unfortunately seen the frenzied protests in front of the Japanese embassy. They canceled their trip.

I didn’t quite blame them. Chinese nationalism can get ugly, and there is widespread belief that the Beijing authorities purposely allow these protests to get out of hand—it makes for great distraction from the domestic problems the Chinese face. Yet there is a significant portion of young Chinese that have a great love for Japanese products. Uniqlo and Muji have become staples in Chinese malls all over the country, and Gulou, the haunt of Chinese hipsters, is full of contraband translations of Japanese manga, boutique zakka shops, cosplay groups and a clearly Japan-inspired cat café. And while tour groups may have slashed their numbers, independent travelers are still taking advantage of the lower yen and cheaper airfare. A couple of (admittedly white-collar) Chinese friends of mine have traveled to Japan this year, and all came back with rave reviews over the clean air, beautiful scenery and polite manners of the locals.

We need more of this. While “grassroots” internationalization is no longer quite the buzzword it was back in the ’80s, Japan needs it again, only this time, they need to direct it towards their Asian neighbors. After all, the JET program was primarily launched in response to being “misunderstood” by the world (read: Americans). While many complain the program didn’t actually help improve English skills in Japan, it was a big success in introducing thousands of young foreigners to Japanese life every year. Many ’90s alumni of JET have gone on to influential positions in business and government, providing expertise based on actual years of living in the country.

Imagine how this could be applied to China. There is a large cohort of young Chinese already interested in Japanese pop culture—if Japan invited the most promising candidates to live and work on their shores, then perhaps the wide gap between these two countries could be breached. After all, JET currently has only 77 Chinese participating in their program—compare that to, say, the nearly 500 Canadians on board. Not to say Canada isn’t important (although I might, stubborn American that I am), but Japan’s relationship with the world’s second-largest economy should take precedence.

If more Chinese youth were selected to live on Japanese shores, perhaps the mutual fear and loathing that characterizes the two biggest powers in Asia would start to diminish. Forget politicians—neither government will be able to take charge on this matter. Small, intimate exchange programs are the way forward. Perhaps then, Chinese won’t think that the outrageous views of blustery politicians actually reflect the majority view, and Japanese will start to believe that China’s “Peaceful Rise” isn’t merely media hype—or worse, a clever ruse.