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 Koizumi strained ties repeatedly with Beijing by visiting the Yasukuni Shrine, which many see as a symbol of Japan's militarist past, during his tenure in office from 2001-2006.
Hu also got a thumbs down from a right-leaning alumni association of Waseda University, where he was to speak later Thursday.
In a statement signed by several dozen alumni, Hu was called "the chief executive of oppression over the right to ethnic self-determination and human rights of the Tibetans." The letter requested Hu's scheduled visit to the university, one of Japan's most prestigious, be called off.
Despite such bumps, Hu's five-day visit to Japan has been designed to stress good ties and cooperation between Asia's two giants. Hu arrived Tuesday, becoming the first Chinese president to visit Tokyo in 10 years.
On Wednesday, Hu and Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda met for a meticulously choreographed summit to fortify a rapprochement launched immediately after Koizumi left office in 2006 with relations at their lowest point since World War II.
The two pledged to work together on everything from climate change to North Korea and territorial disputes, and Fukuda hinted
-- without elaborating -- that the neighbors were on the verge of settling a spat over maritime gas deposits.
They also announced Tokyo and Beijing would hold annual summits, a step to prevent a recurrence of the decade-long gap in visits to Japan by Chinese presidents since Jiang Zemin's rocky trip to Tokyo in 1998.
"I hope this will be a year of progress in Sino-Japanese ties that will define the bilateral relationship far into the future," Fukuda said at the opening of the summit.
Hu seconded that in a joint news conference afterward.
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 "Our relations are at a new starting point, and we have a new chance," Hu said. "Japan and China have an important responsibility to assure peace in Asia."
There appeared to be little substance to the talks, however.
The most concrete agreement so far was over pandas.
Hu offered to loan a couple of pandas to Japan following the death last week of 22-year-old giant panda Ling Ling at Tokyo's largest zoo, and Fukuda thanked him. Local media reports said the two could play Pingpong during his university visit.
The two sides' determination to emphasize the positive illustrated how economics over political rivalry.
China, with Hong Kong included, is Japan's largest trading partner, having eclipsed the United States. Bilateral trade reached $237 billion last year, according to Chinese statistics.
"For Japan, China has become the fastest growing export market," Hu told business leaders Wednesday. "For China, Japan is the largest foreign investor. I believe there is a huge potential."
[Associated
Press; By JOSEPH COLEMAN]
Copyright 2008 The Associated
Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
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