Japan thinks it is the Chinese government's fault for spreading anti-Japan propaganda.  They could not have been more wrong.  I have never been to China yet I probably hate Japanese as much as mainland Chinese do (i.e., my parents and grandparents were Nanyang Chinese in Malaysia and Singapore.)  Chinese all over the world hate Japanese because our grandparents and parents kept telling us nighttime stories of the "old days", of how Japanese soldiers took pleasure in raping, torturing, carving open, and experimenting with Chinese people in World War II.  I would imagine Korean parents and grandparents have been doing the same thing.  That is what causes the anti-Japanese sentiment among Chinese and Koreans, and governments have very little if anything to do with it.

You probably haven't realized it, but the root cause of the recent surge of the anti-Japanese sentiment in China is... Taiwan!  Chinese in China have always hated Japanese, but China had never had so much anti-Japanese protests and riots during the past 20 years or so.  So why are we having so many protests and riots in one year?  Well, the Chinese government decided that it would no longer suppress and control the anti-Japanese sentiment among its populace.  The Chinese government decided that it would just take a "hand off" approach--when it knew darn well that any "hand off" approach was dangerous and, more likely than not, would lead to anti-Japanese heat waves.  But why?  To get even with Japan for (at least implicitly) breaking a 1972 treaty:

China agreed to renounce any claim for war reparations from WWII against Japan, at least at the national and govermental level.  China also implicitly agreed not to endorse any claim or lawsuit against Japan on the private, individual or organizational level.  The terms are spelled out in The Joint Communique of the Government of Japan and the Government of the People's Republic of China, signed in Beijing on September 29, 1972.

In exchange, Japan would recognize China over Taiwan.  Since the UN and the international community already recognize China over Taiwan anyway, I think Japan has gotten one heck of a great deal out of the agreement. 

However, in early 2005, Japan announced it would join the US in supporting Taiwan's security.  That does seem to be an implicit violation of the 1972 terms.  (This does mightily piss off China--how come China always gets into rotten treaties and agreements??)  I think that means China can now endorse individuals seeking war reparations from Japan.  This is also why there has been a surge of anti-Japanese protests and demands for apologies in China in 2005.

Hey, you broke the deal first.  It's all fair play.  Political payback is such a b!tch.

Yeah, Chinese have always hated Japanese since WWII.  However, the PRC government has always kept a tight leash on the anti-Japanese sentiment to ensure that things do not get out-of-hand.  Before 2005, while the Chinese have always hated Japanese, there was never a series of mass rioting against Japan.

If you have been paying attention to the coincidence of events, then you would have noticed that the PRC government let go of the leash at the same time Japan announced it would join the US in supporting Taiwan's security.  It is quite obvious that it is a tit-for-tat political payback of PRC.

Alot of young people in China have a strong resentment for Japanese , and also because they are growing more suspiscious of Japanese agenda to revert to military imperialism. I really do hope the hate ends because it will only lead to war , but this is really up to the fate of the two nations.