During past flare-ups in diplomatic tensions between China and Japan, Chinese consumers spontaneously boycotted Japanese goods.
But the latest row, sparked by controversial remarks on Taiwan by Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, has met with a markedly different response, with almost no one in China calling for a boycott of Japanese products.
Part of the reason for the turnaround is a seismic shift in China’s consumer market, with the Japanese home appliances, digital gadgets and cars once…