 Mr Koizumi said he hoped to meet Chinese leader Hu Jintao |
Japanese leader Junichiro Koizumi says he wants talks with China to resolve a row over Japan's war record that led to violent protests during the weekend. Mr Koizumi described attacks by crowds on Japanese property and citizens in China as "extremely regrettable".
He said Beijing must be responsible for keeping Japanese interests safe.
China accuses Tokyo of setting off the row by allowing the publication of a history textbook that allegedly glosses over Japan's wartime atrocities.
Both countries have used diplomatic channels to trade accusations over the past week.
A demonstration against the textbook in Beijing on Saturday saw hundreds of protesters attack Tokyo's embassy, as well as a Japanese restaurant and some Japanese students.
Correspondents said the scale and ferocity of the unrest was unusual for China and indicated tacit official support for the protesters.
Massive protests
Mr Koizumi said he hoped to hold talks Chinese President Hu Jintao at a summit later this month in Indonesia.
"The Chinese side is responsible for the safety of Japanese people who are active in China. I indeed want the Chinese side to bear it in mind," he said.
Foreign Minister Nobutaka Machimura is expected to travel to China shortly to discuss ties between the two countries. Chinese officials have said Tokyo must soften its rhetoric to soothe relations.
"Japan must adopt an earnest attitude and appropriate ways to deal with major principled issues concerning the feelings of the Chinese people," Foreign Minister Qin Gang told the state news agency Xinhua.
Despite increased trade between the two countries, the conduct of the Japanese army during its conquest of eastern China in the first half of the 20th century continues to inflame passions on both sides.
On Sunday, anti-Japanese protests erupted in China for the second day running, spreading from Beijing to the southern province of Guangdong.
At least 3,000 people demonstrated at the Japanese consulate in the southern city of Guangzhou on Sunday, shouting for a boycott of Japanese goods and burning Japanese flags.
The rallies followed a 10,000-strong march in the Chinese capital on Saturday - the city's biggest protest since 1999.
China says the textbooks approved by Tokyo underplay Japan's military occupations of Asian countries in the first half of the 20th Century.
One book refers to the Japanese slaughter of some 300,000 civilians in the Chinese city of Nanjing in 1937 as an "incident", rather than the "massacre" it is known as elsewhere.
On Sunday, anti-Japanese protests erupted in China for the second day running, spreading from Beijing to the southern province of Guangdong.
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