Fri Sep 21 09:42:37 EDT 2012

China has begun cracking down on violent 打击 anti-Japan protests. The two countries have been [‘protɛst] 反日游行 feuding over control of a group of islands in *[fju:d]vi.长期不和,争执 the East China Sea. And today, the man expected to be China’s next leader said Japan 隐指习近平 should, quote, " rein in its behavior." *[rein]vt. 驾驭, 控制 But as Lucy Craft reports from Tokyo, many Japanese are shocked about how the Chinese are behaving.

LUCY CRAFT: Japan and China normalized ties 恢复邦交正常化 40 years ago and in terms of economic relations, are literally joined at the hip; inseparable不可分 their cross-border trade reaching $340 billion 跨境贸易 last year. Their political relationship, meanwhile, has been a constant source of tension. [sɔ:s],无儿化 紧张 And yet while anti-Japanese hostility in China *[hɒs’tiliti] n. 敌意, has flared up repeatedly over the years, 突然发怒；突然燃烧，骤然 the recent widespread fury targeted at Japanese 狂怒 government offices and businesses over the last week, blindsided many here - like 攻其不备[‘blaind’said] 72-year-old greengrocer Hiroko Iwasaki. ‘griːngrəʊsə] 菜贩

HIROKO IWASAKI: (Through translator) It escalated 传播 so fast. I’m shocked. We are helpless, and it’s 震惊 awful. 可怕的

CRAFT: Businessman Kazunori Mutoh refused to believe the destruction being wrought in China, work的过去式和过去分词 was truly fueled by anti-Japanese hatred. [‘fjuəld]刺激(加燃料),引起 In a widely held view, he said that the [‘ænttai] [‘heitrid] government-approved protests gave the Chinese an opportunity to vent. 发泄

KAZUNORI MUTOH: (Through translator) The people who are demonstrating are actually expressing 游行示威[‘æktʃuəli] dissatisfaction with their own government, against their own country. So I feel no personal antagonism n.对立,敌对, 敌意 towards the Chinese people. *[æn’tægәnizm]

CRAFT: The violence across the East China Sea seems a world away from Japan, with its low crime rate and where political protest is still unusual, says Michael Cucek, an independent political analyst.

MICHAEL CUCEK: One of the Japanese points of pride is, we don’t have demonstrations; we don’t get excited; we don’t go crazy. And it looks down upon 看不起 the Chinese - not only the government, but the actual people of China - as being irrational, *[i’ræʃәnәl] a.无理性的 barbarians. This is language that is commonly *[bɑ:'bєәriәnz]n.野蛮人 used to describe Chinese.

CRAFT: I’m standing in front of the Chuen-Tei Chinese restaurant in central Tokyo. It’s a typical weekday lunchtime. The restaurant’s full of customers sitting down for their bowls of noodles. It’s business as usual. Of course, if 正常营业 this were a Japanese restaurant in China, the if this were' 'eatery would probably be closed, covered with *[’i:tәri]n.简便饮食店 signs expressing support for the Chinese side in the islands dispute. *[dis’pju:t] 岛屿之论

After finishing her lunch at the Chuen-Tei restaurant, social worker Sayaka Onishi held out 坚持；伸出 hope against hope, for a diplomatic solution. (绝望中)抱一线希望

SAYAKA ONISHI: (Through translator) Japanese are generally a peaceful people, but every country has its extreme elements. This calls for 极端分子. 需要,呼唤 reconciliation with the Chinese. I am [,rekənsili’eiʃən] absolutely against the use of force. n. 和解, 和好, 复交,

CRAFT: Mutoh, the businessman, doesn’t completely buy Japanese arguments that the tiny islands - which the U.S. occupied after World War II and then handed back to Japan - have always been Japanese property. Chinese claims date back centuries.

MUTOH: (Through translator) Prime Minister Noda [’nəudə]野田 and others say historically, it’s Japanese territory. But I’m not so sure it was Japan’s, if 领土 you go back thousands of years. As far as recent history is concerned, the U.S. declared it Japanese territory after the war, and returned it to us.

CRAFT: Because of its pacifist constitution, *[‘pæsifist]n.和平主义者 military force is not an option for Japan in 和平宪法(日本战败后) resolving the Senkaku-Daiyou islands dispute - an zɔl, not zou issue that may compel the U.S., which is *[kәm’pel] vt.强迫,迫使 obligated to defend Japanese territory, to step in.

For NPR News, this is Lucy Craft in Tokyo.