Chinese Chiikawa fans are flying to Hong Kong and Japan to see the movie

Some fans in China want to see the new Chiikawa movie so badly that they are leaving the country for it. One of them even went to Hong Kong, and told Japan's Yomiuri newspaper about the trip.

What is Chiikawa, and what happened?

Chiikawa (called Meonjakgwi in Korea, short for "something small and cute") follows doll-like animal characters such as Chiikawa, Hachiware and Usagi. They lean on each other as they get through a tough everyday life.

Young people in Japan, South Korea and China love it. Many call it a "digital ibuprofen", a painkiller for worries about jobs, studies and loneliness. On China's social platform Weibo, posts like "Chiikawa is so cute" and "so lovable" are easy to find.

The film Chiikawa: The Secret of Mermaid Island opened in Japan in July and in South Korea in September. It is doing well in both. In China it has not been released at all, so some fans are going to Japan, Hong Kong or Taiwan just to watch it.

Why is China missing out?

It goes back to the row over Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi. Last November she said a Taiwan emergency could count as a "survival-threatening situation" in which Japan's Self-Defense Forces might act. Beijing was furious.

Since then, no Japanese film has opened in China. Planned releases such as Crayon Shin-chan and Cells at Work were cancelled. In Japan, some observers think China's film approval authorities and distributors are simply wary of upsetting the government.

The chill goes beyond cinemas. Concerts by popular Japanese singers have been effectively on hold for about a year. Chinese state media also pushed back on the recent Japanese drama VIVANT, over a scene where a fictional Chinese intelligence agency tortures a Japanese Self-Defense Forces member. They said it portrayed Chinese people as perpetrators.

Yomiuri also reported that a Chinese music promoter who had planned a Japanese singer's concert late last year was summoned by public security authorities.

What's next?

Yomiuri warns that if the dispute drags on, Chinese people will lose chances to experience Japanese culture, which could damage the basis of mutual understanding.

Meanwhile, in South Korea the film had reached 2.8 million total admissions by 10 November, according to the national box office network. That puts it seventh on the all-time list of Japanese animated films in the country.