Tokyo is calling for dialogue with Beijing after violent anti-Japanese protests in China during the weekend.
Japan's chief cabinet secretary, Hiroyuki Hosada, told reporters Monday that hard work must be done to prevent misunderstandings from growing.
His remarks came a day after thousands of protesters mobbed Japan's consulate in Guangzhou and a Japanese supermarket in Shenzhen Sunday.
Two Japanese students were attacked in a Shanghai restaurant Sunday, and on Saturday, protesters in Beijing broke windows at the Japanese Embassy.
The unrest was triggered by Tokyo's decision to approve history textbooks that allegedly minimize Japan's brutal occupation of China before and during the Second World War.
China's Foreign Ministry says Japan must find a way to address the feelings of the Chinese people.