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"There might be a need to re-establish the relationship, starting with a summit," Mr. Abe said on a television talk show late Tuesday, referring to the fraying ties between Tokyo and Beijing over the uninhabited islands in the East China Sea. While he reiterated his position that there is "no room for negotiations" over Japan's current control of the islands, Mr. Abe said Asia's two largest economies should rebuild what he called a "strategic partnership of mutual benefit," according to comments quoted Wednesday by Kyodo News agency.

The apparent olive branch comes amid a flurry of diplomatic activity in the last week aimed at ratcheting down an increasingly heated standoff that saw both nations scramble fighter jets earlier this month, prompting debate in Japan over whether its planes should fire warning shots. Decades-old tensions over the islands, known as the Senkakus in Japan and Diaoyu in Chinese, flared anew last year when the Japanese government bought three of the islands, igniting violent protests against Japanese businesses in China.

To defuse tensions, a Japanese delegation led by former Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama and including leading lawmakers from Mr. Abe's governing Liberal Democratic Party met in Beijing on Monday with Tang Jiaxuan, a former Chinese foreign minister with ties to Japan. That visit followed a meeting on Friday that the Chinese head of state, Xi Jinping, held with Natsuo Yamaguchi, the leader of a small Buddhist party that is a junior partner in Mr. Abe's ruling coalition.

After that meeting, Mr. Yamaguchi, of the New Komeito party, told reporters that he hand delivered a letter from Mr. Abe to the Chinese leader, though he did not disclose the letter's contents. He also said that during the meeting, he suggested to Mr. Xi that the two nations hold a summit, to which the Chinese leader replied that he would "seriously consider" the idea.

Despite such diplomatic efforts, on Monday, the Chinese leader, Mr. Xi, seemed to cast cold water onto hopes of a quick resolution to the islands dispute, saying that he will not bargain over China's territorial interests.

The delicate diplomacy underscores the emotions in both nations, where the islands have taken on different symbolic meanings. In China, they are seen as the last unreturned piece of Chinese territory seized during Japan's empire building a century ago, and thus a sign that Japan remains unrepentant about its early 20th-century militarism. To many Japanese, the islands have become emblematic of the broader challenge that their nation, long Asia's strongest power, faces from the emergence of an increasingly powerful China bent on settling old scores.

But China's rise is seen here not just as creating a military threat, but also an economic opportunity. This has led to the difficult balancing act faced at home by Mr. Abe, a conservative who became prime minister a month ago with promises to defend Japan's territorial claims but also improve ties. While his supporters in his party's nationalist wing want him to take a bolder stand against rising Chinese pressure, another traditional Liberal Democratic support group, big business, wants less friction with China, Japan's biggest export market.

To offset China's growing military strength, Mr. Abe is seeking Japan's first military spending increase in 11 years to bolster its ability to defend its southwestern islands, including the disputed island group. He has also vowed to improve ties with the United States, Japan's traditional protector, and is working to arrange a summit meeting with President Obama in Washington late next month.

However, concerns that both Japan and the United States may be declining powers has led to growing anxieties here about Tokyo's future ability to resist China's growing strength. In the islands row, many Japanese officials now say they think China's has embarked on a long-term strategy aimed at pressing Japan first to admit that a territorial dispute exists -- something that Tokyo has so far resisted acknowledging -- and then eventually agreeing to some form of joint stewardship, if not conceding the islands to China altogether.

This Chinese pressure has taken the form of almost daily appearances near the islands by ships and more recently aircraft from Chinese civilian agencies, but not the military to avoid a dangerous escalation. Still, the Japanese have responded in kind by sending their own ships and aircraft to intercept them, fanning fears that a misstep would trigger a violent clash. These concerns grew earlier this month, when both nations scrambled military fighter jets that shadowed each other.

In a show of American support for its longtime ally, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said on Jan. 20 that the United States opposes unilateral actions to try to undermine Japanese control of the islands, bringing an angry response from Beijing urging her to watch her words.