There are signs that the goodwill shown by the athletes and fans of both nations at the Beijing Olympics is helping to promote better relations between Japanese and Chinese people.

When China met Japan in the Women's Soccer quarterfinals, Kato Yoshikazu, a Japanese student at Peking University, was nervous before the match. Although he thought "the match will be held in a friendly atmosphere," he was worried by the date: August 15.

"August 15 is the 63rd anniversary of the Japanese surrender in the World War II. I hope nothing happens tonight. We should keep politics out of sport."

His worries vanished when the match began. "There's a really good atmosphere," he told the International Herald Leader. "The fans are treating it just like any other game."

Japanese athletes with Chinese characteristics

There were some special moments during the opening ceremony of the Games.

"I saw Japanese athletes walking into the Bird's Nest with Chinese and Japanese national flags in their hands," said Yu Min, a student at Renmin University of China. "I think it was a nice gesture."

Japanese athletes walked into the Bird's Nest with Chinese and Japanese national flags in their hands at the Beijing Olympic Opening Ceremony on August 8, 2008.

Tang Luwei from Changchun was delighted to see Japan's popular ping-pong player, Ai Fukuhara, among the Japanese athletes. "Ai Fukuhara is so cute. I love her so much."

"It was the Japanese athletes' own idea to hold both the Chinese and Japanese national flags in the opening ceremony. It demonstrates their hope for better relations between China and Japan," Tsunekazu Takeda, president of the Japanese Olympic Committee, told the International Herald Leader.

More Chinese characteristics were on display in the rowing competition where the writing on the Japanese team's kit was in Chinese characters.

Japanese gymnast Nijiko Tsurumi performed a floor exercise accompanied by music written by Chinese composer Wu Rujun. The piece was performed on a Jinghu, a traditional Chinese instrument. There were loud cheers when Nijiko Tsurumi incorporated Shaolin kungfu moves into her performance.