Relations between Japan and China may be troubled right now, but then they often have been. Back at the beginning, Chinese rulers saw the whole world as coming under their jurisdiction. "Under the wide heaven," as one Chinese saying had it, "all is the King's land; within the sea-boundaries of the land, all are the King's servants."
Such an attitude leads to argument. Hence the necessity of ambassadors, the purpose of whom is to evade controversy, or to create it. Those from Japan to the Sui (581-618 A.D.) and Tang (618-907 A.D.) courts of China, however, were not interested in establishing a relationship of equality with China. Rather, they were concerned with collecting information and siphoning knowledge from the country, thus producing for Japan as much cultural and material benefit as possible. The interests of China and Japan may have been in many respects antithetical but they were alike in their mutual self-interest.
This interesting story of official relations between Japan and China from the 2nd century B.C. to the 10th century A.D. constitutes what the author calls an "inner history" of the designs of both countries. And though the title perhaps suggests a somewhat dry topic, the available history is so anecdotal that the results are readably juicy.