I tend to agree with East here. Alot of the reports in the media is fuelling the hate and it's disguised as nationalism. These reports can be squashed quickly by the Central Govt but not. The protests can be broken up quickly but not and then reported widely. There are dozens of period TV dramas about Japan/China war and about 2-5 major films a year about the Japanese occupation.
You would be amazed at the comments from the locals here and there are dozens of reports daily about the protests. They are all talking about soon there is going to be a war with Japan and the whole 1.3 billion will be behind the Govt as they are already brainwashed with the constant media reports and all looking for blood.
There is no real debate about the islands, only one sided vitriol of Japan is the bad aggressor and stealing our islands.