Chinese President Hu Jintao Saturday said his five-day visit to Japan, which has seen the traditional rivals commit to closer ties but also met protests over Beijing's rule in Tibet, was a success. On the final day of his trip, only the second visit ever by a Chinese head of state to Japan, Hu visited the Toshodaiji Temple, a revered Buddhist temple built by Chinese monk Ganjin in 759 when the city was the nation's capital.
The choice of Nara is seen as a bid to remember times when bilateral relations were amicable, unlike the two countries' tortured recent history tainted by Japan's militarism before and during World War II. "This visit was harmonious and successful," Hu told reporters before leaving Nara.
"Co-operation between China and Japan has produced big achievements in various fields. I believe further progress will be made in the future," he said. Hu also visited the Horyuji Temple, the world's oldest surviving wooden structure, built more than 1,300 years ago, where he said: "It is good for both countries to stay friendly and peaceful."
There was, however, open dissent Saturday, with dozens of protesters gathered in front of the temple waving Tibetan flags and chanting "Free Tibet!" as Hu arrived, while pro-Tibet demonstrators rallied in the streets of Nara.
Inside the temple, a calmer atmosphere prevailed as Hu listened, nodding and smiling, to a narrative on the history of the structure from a Buddhist monk. Hu is due to visit the headquarters of Japanese electronics giant Matsushita in Osaka, before heading home.
The two leaders on Wednesday agreed to start regular summits to ease decades of tension coloured by Japan's brutal invasion of China, and pledged that Asia's two largest economies would not see each other as a threat.
During his stay in Japan this week, Hu has not been short on friendly gestures, offering to lend two giant pandas to a Japanese zoo and shedding his jacket and glasses to show off his table tennis prowess. The Chinese president has repeated conciliatory remarks aimed at improving ties, praising Japan's "peaceful" role in world affairs and voicing gratitude for Japan's decades of low-interest loans to China since the end of World War II.
This new spirit of friendship makes a stark contrast to the atmosphere just a few years ago. Jiang Zemin, the only other Chinese president to come to Japan, publicly berated his hosts on his 1998 visit for not offering a stronger apology over past militarism, foreshadowing a decade of tension between the two countries.