"Improving cross-strait relations is in the interest of not only Taiwan but also Japan and Asia as a whole," Wu Poh-hsiung, the first leader of a ruling Taiwanese party to visit Japan, told reporters.

Ties between China and Taiwan have improved dramatically since Beijing-friendly President Ma Ying-jeou came to power in May on a platform of boosting economic ties with the mainland.

The two sides split in 1949 after a civil war but Beijing still considers the island part of its territory awaiting reunification, by force if necessary.

"I think the Japanese government is also relieved that one of the two flash points in the region -- the Taiwan Strait and the Korean Peninsula -- is less tense than before," Wu said.

One of the main missions of US troops in Japan is believed to be to deploy in the Taiwan Strait in a crisis, although Washington and Tokyo have never officially said so.

During his one-week stay in Japan, Wu plans to meet ruling and opposition party lawmakers and to convey the message "that President Ma Ying-jeou puts much emphasis on Taiwan's relations with Japan."

Anti-Japan sentiment remains widespread in mainland China, which considers itself the biggest victim of Japanese aggression between 1937 and 1945.

Taiwan is more sympathetic toward Japan despite being colonised between 1895-1945. But Japan, like most countries, officially recognises only Beijing.

Taipei-Tokyo ties hit a low point in June after a Taiwanese fishing boat collided with a Japanese patrol boat and sank in the East China Sea near a disputed island chain.

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