This month's public discussion will tackle issues that have plagued relations
Heated exchanges are expected when mainland nationalists and Japanese right-wing activists clash in a public debate in Tokyo this month.
Tong Zeng , chairman of the China Federation for Defending the Diaoyu Islands, will head the mainland's three-member non-governmental debate team.
The key topics for the discussion, which has been set up by a Japanese magazine, will range from the disputed Diaoyu Islands to Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's controversial visits to the Yasukuni Shrine, where Japan's war dead are honoured.
These and other issues have recently plagued Sino-Japanese relations.
Mr Tong, a Peking University professor and another prominent figure, possibly a writer, are expected to obtain Japanese visas soon.