Japanese activists prepare to head for the rocky islands in the East China Sea, which are at the heart of a territorial dispute with Beijing. It's a move that could spark anger in China after arrests earlier this week of activists who landed on the islands.
Asia's two biggest economies have been feuding for decades over the island chain, known as the Senkaku in Japan.
(SOUNDBITE) (Japanese) LEADER OF ACTIVIST GROUP GANBARE NIPPON TOSHIO TAMOGAMI SAYING:
"With the Chinese activists just having landed, this is a way of saying do not mess around. We hope to convey to China and the Japanese people through the media or whatever means that the Senkakus are our territory."
Before departing, the group held a ceremony for those who died around the islands in 1945 when two ships came under attack by U.S. forces.
Tensions flared earlier in the week after a group of Chinese activists slipped past Japan's Coast Guard to land on one of the islands where they raised a Chinese flag.
Japan, keen to avoid a rerun of a nasty feud that chilled economic and diplomatic ties in 2010, deported the activists within days
