Tensions have been rising as China has become more aggressive in its territorial claims in the South China Sea.
The Communist State has disputes with five separate countries over several islands and waters in the South China Sea that they claim to control.
At the heart of the feud between China and Japan is a dispute over the Senkaku Islands.
The Senkaku Islands are a group of uninhabited islands under Japanese control, but that are claimed by China.
Beijing calls the land the Diaoyu Islands.
Richard Weitz, a senior fellow and the director of the Center for Political-Military Analysis at the Hudson Institute, has explained that China wants “to enforce their claims” by ensuring foreign planes acknowledge its capability to control airspace and the waters of contested territory.
He also said that Russia is motivated by “monitoring US military activity in the country”.
Russia’s conflict with Japan also concerns the Kuril Islands.
The Kuril Islands were historically part of Japan and were taken by the USSR in the final days of the World War II.
Zack Cooper, a senior fellow for the Centre for Strategic and International Studies, has claimed that China are being prevented from being more bold by the the US-Japan alliance and the superiority of the Japan Self-Defence Forces (JSDF).
The US is obliged to defend Japan if it is ever attacked by a foreign nation.
Cooper said. “If the US-Japan alliance did not exist, the Chinese would be pushing much much harder.”
He also said: ”Both countries know that given the scale and pace of China’s military modernisation, it’s just a matter of time before China is able to outclass Japan in most areas of the military competition.”
While China, Taiwan and Vietnam all claim the South China Sea’s islands belong to them, US military officials have long argued the region should be open for other nations to travel through.
China has previously described US decisions to sail through the waters as behaviour that “threatened the sovereignty of the South China Sea countries”.
In September last year Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang said: “For some time now, some countries have used the pretext of freedom of navigation to bring their planes and fleets near the South China Sea.
“Actually, I think this is behaviour that has threatened the sovereignty of South China Sea countries.”