LOVE OF COUNTRY

Relations between the two Asian giants spiralled to historic lows in April 2005, when thousands of Chinese protested against Japan's bid for a permanent seat on the U.N. Security Council and approval of a Japanese school history text that critics say whitewashes the very atrocities highlighted at the museum.

More recently, Beijing and Tokyo appear to be groping for a way out of their diplomatic freeze, though history as well as regional rivalry and mutual mistrust remain huge barriers.

"I think no nation or individual would like to keep talking about his own shame to other people," Wang said.

"But if someone else keeps saying this painful history is fiction, untrue, fabricated, then we Chinese people have to stand up and talk about it," he added. "It is they who keep reminding us about this history we want to leave behind."

Speculation is mounting that Koizumi -- set to step down in September -- will visit Yasukuni on August 15, the emotive anniversary of Japan's surrender in 1945.

That, Wang said, might mean the museum would have to remove a photo of the Japanese leader shaking hands with Chinese President Hu Jintao in April of last year in Indonesia, the last time the two men met.

"I think it will certainly spark fury among the Chinese public if he visits Yasukuni on August 15," Wang said.

Some Chinese, though, are already looking beyond Koizumi in hope that the next prime minister will take a different tack on history.

"We hope his successor will not go (to Yasukuni), said Bai Yong, 22, who was also visiting the museum. "But I hope our country can take some measures if his successor continues to do this. I think a strong condemnation will not be enough."