The demonstrators from several right-wing parties and civil groups called for a boycott of Japanese goods as they were marching past a department store known for its sales of Japanese-made items.

"Down with Japanese imperialism!", "Diaoyutai is ours, Japanese get out of Diaoyutai!" the crowd shouted, referring to the Senkaku island group controlled by Japan, which is also claimed by China, under the name Diaoyu, and Taiwan.

The crowd unfurled banners and brandished anti-Japanese placards during the peaceful march.

The uninhabited islands lie 400 kilometres (250 miles) from the Okinawan capital of Naha, and 200 kilometres from Taiwan.

Apparently mindful of the growing clout of China and the island's fast-improving ties with Beijing, the demonstrators called for cooperation with the mainland to solve the territorial dispute.

Television images showed an activist waving a huge Chinese national flag to highlight the controversial appeal.

Taiwan's President Ma Ying-jeou however has said Taipei has no intention of working with Beijing, aware that doing so could hurt the island's ties with Japan and cause concern in Washington.

A group of fishermen in the northeastern Nanfangau fishing port said a flotilla of more than 60 fishing vessels would set sail Monday to the waters off the disputed islands group.

"Diaoyutai has been our traditional fishing ground for centuries. We pledge to use our lives to protect it, or we'd disgrace our ancestors," Chen Chun-sheng, the head of a fishermen's association from the port, told reporters.

Tension mounted after Japan announced earlier this month it had completed a planned purchase of some of the islands, prompting Taiwan to recall its envoy to Tokyo and triggering mass protests in China.

Tens of thousands of anti-Japanese demonstrators took to the streets in cities across China, with some vandalising Japanese shops and factories, forcing firms to shut or scale back production.

The islands lie on vital shipping lanes and are believed to be located near potentially rich gas fields.

The five men gave themselves up after police launched a social media campaign targeting demonstrators who damaged property in the southern city, the state news agency Xinhua said, with 350 calls received by Sunday night.

Some of the nationwide protests this month over the East China Sea islands known as Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China turned violent, with Japanese property and businesses targeted by furious demonstrators.

The islands are controlled by Tokyo but claimed by Beijing and Taipei, and tensions peaked after the Japanese government bought three of them from their private owners.

Beijing has kept up its rhetoric in recent days, and has sent ships to the area according to the Japan Coast Guard, but has prevented any repetition of large-scale protests within China.

There was huge public sympathy for 51-year-old Li Jianli, a Chinese citizen said by domestic media to have been left partially paralysed after being brutally attacked by a mob for driving a Japanese-made car.

The attack in the northern city of Xian, in Shaanxi province, was heavily discussed on China's popular Sina Weibo microblogging site -- the country's version of Twitter -- where it was 're-tweeted' more than 100,000 times and received almost 60,000 comments by Monday morning.

"Ignorant. Utterly ignorant. This is not patriotism, this is an ignorant and brutal act. It's illegal, and the criminal should be brought to justice," said one Weibo poster.

"I really don't understand why Chinese are always bullying Chinese. Is this patriotism?" said another.

Hundreds in Tokyo rally against China
Tokyo (AFP) Sept 22, 2012 - Hundreds of Japanese on Saturday rallied against Beijing over an escalating island row, days after anti-Japanese protests saw shops and factories vandalised in China.

Some 800 demonstrators waved national flags as they marched through downtown Tokyo, denouncing Beijing as a "brute state" and "fascist".

Protesters marched through the Roppongi entertainment district, near the Chinese embassy, shouting: "We will never give in to China's military threat!"

They criticised the sometimes-violent anti-Japan demonstrations which saw tens of thousands march across China last week, forcing firms to close or scale back production.

"We get excited sometimes, but we don't loot shops like those in China, where the demonstrations deviated from their original intentions," said Shuhei Takagi, 21, clad in a camouflage uniform.

The row centres on the Tokyo-controlled Senkaku islands in the East China Sea, which are claimed by Beijing under the name Diaoyu.

Asia's two largest economies have wrangled about the islands since the 1970s, but the row flared in August after pro-China activists landed on one of them.

Tensions escalated dramatically after the Japanese government bought three of them from their private owners.

Japan's coastguard said Saturday it was monitoring seven Chinese ships in waters near to the chain. There had been 14 in the area on Wednesday.