KYOTO - Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao's three-day visit to narrow rifts with Japan shifts tempo on Friday when talk of rivalry and history makes way for a show of friendship between the neighbours.

A day after he addressed Japan's national parliament, evoking bitter memories of wartime suffering, Wen is due to travel to the picturesque ancient capital, Kyoto, where he will meet students and make a cameo in a baseball game.

A spokesman for China's Foreign Ministry said he did not know whether Wen would pitch or bat, but he said there was a larger purpose to the spectacle -- to court Japanese public opinion.

"Baseball is a very popular sport among Japanese people, especially young people," spokesman Liu Jianchao told reporters late on Thursday. "I hope that if he's batting, it's a home run," he added.

The Chinese premier will also visit a Kyoto university that houses a Confucius Institute -- one of the language and culture schools that Beijing is promoting to burnish its standing abroad.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe joined in promoting more understanding between the two nations.

"We need to strengthen political and economic ties, but what really brings us together are our people, cultures and sports," Abe said at a concert featuring traditional Chinese performances on Thursday.

HUMAN TOUCH

Wen has sought to use his human touch as a diplomatic tool -- chatting with Tokyo residents during a morning jog and telling guests at a reception that his mother called to say she liked his speech to Japan's parliament.

But between smiles and handshakes, Wen has made pointed reminders that China remains wary of Japan's handling of the legacies from its bloody occupation of much of Asia, including China, up to 1945.

"The Chinese people suffered calamity during the war of invasion launched by Japan," Wen told the parliament, noting apologies offered in past years by Japan's leaders.

"We sincerely hope that Japan will manifest this stance and promise in practical actions."

Wen's speech was the first by a Chinese leader to Japan's parliament in 22 years, another milestone in a diplomatic thaw begun in earnest with an October visit by Abe to Beijing. Wen's visit has been the first by a Chinese premier since 2000.

The two Asian giants fell out during the five-year term of Abe's predecessor, Junichiro Koizumi, who made annual visits to Tokyo's Yasukuni war shrine, seen across much of the region as a symbol of past militarism.

Wen did not explicitly mention the shrine in his speech, but in an interview before his visit he pressed Abe not to go. Abe has paid his respects before at Yasukuni, but has declined to say if he will do so as prime minister.

Wen also had tough words about Taiwan, the former Japanese colony that has been divided since 1949 from mainland China, which says the island must accept eventual reunification.

China has criticised Japan for being too sympathetic to forces favouring Taiwan's full independence from Beijing.