[Photo / weibo.com]

In 20 minutes in Wangfujing, Watanabe and his teammates hugged a total of 30 people, while in Yuyuantan Park, they managed to hug 200 within an hour.

Watanabe said many passers-by, seeing their boards, approached them voluntarily, but there were exceptions.

Once a middle-aged woman in red said to him, "Remember, the Diaoyu Island belongs to China."

"Say it," she said, while smiling, "and then I will hug you."

"I knew she was friendly," said the young Japanese man. "I could see it in her eyes."

He replied to the woman in shaky Chinese, "That is irrelevant." Finally, they hugged.

Watanabe has always believed that politics is one thing, and communication between people is another.

"Now about 70 percent of my friends here are Chinese. The topics of our talks range from cartoon movies to history," he said. "My roommate is Chinese. We go out together and help each other with our studies. I visited his home during the Spring Festival."

Watanabe's friend Kenta Maruyama also took part in the activities. He told Xinhua that most young Japanese are not interested in politics at all. "They have other things to worry about, like job-seeking," he said.

Maruyama is an economics major, but likes Chinese. "I am interested in the Chinese economy," he said. "I also know some Japanese traditions stem from Chinese culture, so I'd love to learn more."

Bao Hongying, project officer from the Beijing Office of Waseda University, the home university of both Japanese students, praised their idea and courage.

"They are young, and many of those influenced by them are young as well," she said. "In the future they will have different professions, becoming businessmen or diplomats. Together they can help bring the two neighboring countries closer."

The Japanese students also held a chorus event. With the song they composed as background music, they hope to make a video clip of the hugging activities and upload it to the Internet. The lyrics were written by 23 Chinese and Japanese youth, with each writing a sentence.

"Each of us has power that might be small, but together we can change the world," goes one line of the song.

We recommend:

Crafts master keen to keep She ethnic group silver crafts alive	Zhu's works show lusty embrace of life	Wang's show reflects passion for homeland, contribution to art history