Some 18 months after Koizumi's successor, Shinzo Abe, initiated a thaw with an "ice-breaking" visit to Beijing, both sides now have many reasons to try to ensure Hu's visit goes smoothly.
"If you see the current situation of relations between the two countries, I don't think that the history issue is one we have to tackle now," a Japanese foreign ministry official said.
China overtook the United States as Japan's biggest export market in 2007 and Japanese foreign direct investment to China stood at $6.2 billion last year after hitting a peak of $6.6 billion in 2005.
Under fire internationally over its human rights record in Tibet and elsewhere ahead of the August Olympics, Beijing is keen for Fukuda's support for the Games.
Fukuda, dogged by doubts about his ability to cope with a divided parliament and a combative opposition, needs a diplomatic success to try to halt a slide in his support rates, which the Mainichi newspaper said on Saturday had slumped to 18 percent.
FLASHPOINTS
Still, potential flash points remain for Hu's visit, his first abroad since anti-Chinese unrest erupted in Tibet in March.
Japanese nationalists have seized on the issue of human rights in Tibet to criticise China and rightwing activists could well take part in protests by pro-Tibet groups during Hu's visit.
"China is very keen to keep Tibet off the agenda and Japan is under pressure (to bring it up)," said Phil Deans, a professor of international affairs at Temple University's Japan campus. "It's a question of how anodyne they can make their statements."
Patriotic sentiment in China has been inflamed by Tibetan unrest and Western criticism, while Japanese anxiety about rival China's rise has been stirred by a row over pesticide-tainted dumplings and Chinese fervour during the Olympic torch relay, one reason Hu will try to show a friendlier face during his stay.
Failure to resolve a feud over energy resources in the East China Sea could incline Japanese media to dismiss the summit as a performance lacking substance, one Japanese diplomatic expert said, but prospects of a breakthrough appear dim.
"Is the visit going to be hunky-dory?" said Horvat.
"You can't put money on it, but you can assume they have learned from past mistakes."
