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NAGANO, Japan - Thousands of Chinese supporters and Japanese nationalists shouted at one another Saturday as they prepared for the Beijing Olympic torch relay in this mountain town amid high-security.
More than 3,000 police were deployed along the route in the central town of Nagano, the site of the 1998 Winter Olympics, which has raised security to a level usually accorded to Emperor Akihito.
Thousands of Chinese students waving their nation's flags arrived on buses only to be greeted by more than 100 Japanese nationalists, some waving Japan's old imperial flag and shouting, "Chinese, go home!"
Other demonstrators waved Tibetan flags. The protesters and Chinese shouted at one another but there was no violence, with police keeping a close eye, an AFP reporter said.
"Why are they so mean to us? Sports and politics should be separate," a young Chinese woman told camera crews.
Japan has been trying to repair relations with China, which remain uneasy due to war memories, and has pledged to ensure top security for the relay.
China is one of the main targets for Japan's far-right activists, who are notorious for noisy demonstrations.
Separate protests are planned in Nagano by Tibet supporters and French rights activist Robert Menard, who set off global torch protests when he disrupted the flame lighting in Greece.
The demonstrations have outraged China, which had hoped to make the Games a symbol of their country's rising international clout.
The Chinese community also came out in force at the torch's last relay stop in the Australian capital of Canberra, ensuring that supporters far outnumbered demonstrators.
The Nagano leg of the relay kicks off at 8:30 am (2330 GMT Friday) in a parking lot rather than a celebrated Buddhist temple, which withdrew as the starting point after objections over China's crackdown in predominantly Buddhist Tibet.
The Zenkoji temple instead plans to hold a Buddhist prayer ceremony as the relay sets off in fine weather.
Some 80 runners, led by Senichi Hoshino, head coach of Japan's Olympic baseball team, will cover the 18.7-kilometre (11.5-mile) route for about four hours.
Menard, the founder of rights group Reporters Sans Frontieres (Reporters Without Borders), plans to unfurl a banner and wear his trademark T-shirt showing the five Olympic rings as handcuffs.
But he hailed China's announcement Friday that it would meet envoys of the Dalai Lama, Tibet's exiled spiritual leader, in the first talks since violence erupted in the Himalayan region last month.
"If opening dialogue with the Dalai Lama's people is a sign of a broader discussion by Chinese authorities on human rights and freedom of expression in China, then we'll take another look at our strategy," he told AFP.
Police said late Friday they had made one arrest in Nagano, that of a man clad as an apprentice monk who was carrying a blade and a letter opposing the torch relay. They were still assessing his intentions.
- AFP /ls
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