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By George Nishiyama

KYOTO, Japan April 13 (Reuters) - Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao's visit to narrow rifts with Japan shifted from summitry and pomp on Friday as he arrived in Japan's ancient capital for a tea-ceremony, chats with students and a bit of baseball.

The trip to Kyoto came a day after Wen -- the first Chinese leader to visit Japan since 2000 -- addressed Japan's parliament with a message of friendship, tempered with a warning not to forget the wartime history that has long dogged bilateral ties.

A spokesman for China's Foreign Ministry said he did not know whether Wen would pitch or bat in his cameo baseball performance, but he said there was a larger purpose to the spectacle -- to court Japan's public.

"Baseball is a very popular sport among Japanese people, especially young people," spokesman Liu Jianchao told reporters late on Thursday. "I hope that if he's batting, it's a home run."

In a sign that tensions remain, however, members of Japanese right-wing groups, in dozens of trucks with loudspeakers blaring anti-Chinese slogans, cruised the streets near the former Imperial Palace where Wen was to arrive for a welcoming ceremony.

"China is stealing Japan's resources," shouted one, referring to a dispute over oil and gas reserves in the East China Sea.

The combination of summitry and common touch is intended by both sides to build on a fragile detente that began with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's October trip to Beijing.

Japanese media welcomed Wen's trip, which has been marked more by symbolism than concrete breakthroughs, although caution over the future remained.

"Visiting Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao's speech to Parliament shows the Chinese stance toward Japan is undergoing a transformation," said the conservative Yomiuri newspaper.

Japanese media also applauded the fact that Wen acknowledged Tokyo's past apologies for its wartime acts and expressed gratitude for massive foreign aid Tokyo has given China.

"IRREVERSIBLE TREND"

China's official media were cautiously optimistic.

"The two sides have drafted concrete actions to take to improve ties and this demonstrates that the efforts are not hollow talk," said a commentary in the overseas edition of the People's Daily.

The paper said pressure on Abe from "rightist forces" in Japan was still a worry, but added: "Although it takes more than one day to melt the thick ice, the trend of improving bilateral ties is irreversible".

Wen has sought to use his human touch as a diplomatic tool -- chatting with Tokyo residents during a morning jog and telling guests at a reception that his mother had praised his speech to the Japanese parliament when they chatted by phone.

Between smiles and handshakes, however, Wen has made pointed reminders that China remains wary of Japan's handling of the legacies from its bloody occupation of much of Asia, including China, up to 1945.

"The Chinese people suffered calamity during the war of invasion launched by Japan," Wen told the parliament, noting apologies offered in past years by Japan's leaders.

"We sincerely hope that Japan will manifest this stance and promise in practical actions."

Wen's speech was the first by a Chinese leader to Japan's parliament in 22 years, another milestone in the diplomatic thaw between the two Asian giants, whose economies are deeply linked.

Tokyo and Beijing fell out during the five-year term of Abe's predecessor, Junichiro Koizumi, who paid his respects each year to Tokyo's Yasukuni war shrine, seen across much of the region as a symbol of past militarism.

Wen did not explicitly mention the shrine in his speech, but in an interview before his visit he pressed Abe not to go. Abe has paid his respects before at Yasukuni, but has declined to say if he will do so as prime minister.

Wen also had tough words about Taiwan, the former Japanese colony that has been divided since 1949 from mainland China, which says the island must accept eventual reunification.

China has criticised Japan for being too sympathetic to forces favouring Taiwan's full independence from Beijing. (Additional reporting by Chris Buckley) ((Writing by Linda Sieg, editing by John Chalmers; Reuters messaging linda.sieg.reuters.com@reuters.net; email linda.sieg@reuters.com; +81 3 3432-8617))

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