‘Bad attitudes, bad history’: China holidays can be a hard sell at Tokyo travel expo

The passers-by are enthusiastically taking the hand-fans bearing images of the Great Wall of China and are happy to have their photos taken with the employee of the Chinese tourism office who is cavorting around dressed as a panda bear. Yet the stacks of brochures promoting cities and provinces across China appear to be barely depleted.

In contrast, pamphlets appear to be running low on the neighbouring Malaysian stand at the Tourism Expo Japan 2015, held over four days at the Tokyo Big Sight convention centre until yesterday. Women in traditional Malay attire perform a dance while onlookers snap photos on their mobile phones and contemplate glossy leaflets showing the splendours of Langkawi and the bright lights of Kuala Lumpur.

"We have been about as busy as we were last year," said Rong Dong, of the Tourism Administration of Heilongjiang . "Dalian [in neighbouring Liaoning province] is a popular city for Japanese to visit because they are friendly to Japanese," he said. "And the Japanese men really enjoy the nightlife."

Then the mask really slips.

"Japanese people have very bad attitudes towards Chinese people and we have a bad history," he said. "The Japanese may like ancient Chinese history, but they don't like China or Chinese people today."

Elsewhere, other companies promoting Chinese destinations and attractions are putting a brave face on Japan's largest travel industry convention.