(Adds reported cancellation of joint concert on safety fears, paragraph 9)

ZHANJIANG, China, June 24 (Reuters) - A Japanese warship steamed into a Chinese port on Tuesday, the first such visit since World War Two, in a military exchange aimed at putting relations between the former bitter enemies on a firmer footing.

The dark-grey destroyer Sazanami pulled into Zhanjiang, a tightly guarded Chinese naval port in the southern province of Guangdong, for a five-day call following the docking of a Chinese naval missile destroyer in Japan in November.

Foreign journalists and the general public have been barred access to the Chinese naval installation but the ship was in full view as it approached the port, with its crew lining the deck at attention beneath billowing Japanese and Chinese flags.

Japan invaded and occupied parts of China from 1931 to 1945, and relations are still overshadowed by animosity stemming from Japanese wartime atrocities.

Chinese President Hu Jintao was dogged on a state visit to Japan in May by protests over Beijing's crackdown on riots in Tibet. Japan's offer to transport relief supplies to victims of China's devastating May 12 earthquake on a military flight was abandoned after a flood of Chinese Internet users reacted angrily to the proposal.

Ties have been generally been improving, however, with Hu's visit leading to an agreement over the development of natural gas in disputed waters in the the East China Sea. The destroyer is also bringing in quake aid.

NO DISCONTENT

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao denied there was discontent over the visit when asked by a reporter at regular bi-weekly news conference.

"Strengthening our exchanges and cooperation in the field of defence will be supported by the people and I don't think there will be any public anger as you said," he said.

But one of two joint concerts expected to be held in the city centre was cancelled and the other moved to the naval base because of concerns for Japanese sailors' safety, Kyodo news agency said, citing sources within the Japanese force.

Any warming of Sino-Japanese military ties will be sure to catch the attention of self-ruled Taiwan, a former Japanese colony which China's Communist authorities claim as a breakaway province.

An editorial in the state-run China Daily admitted the ship's visit might cause "controversy". But more dialogue was needed to "help build trust and dispel each other's doubts" given the lack of engagement since the normalisation of relations in 1972.

"With Chinese and Japanese naval destroyers' visits to each other, the two countries are believed to have achieved reconciliation on military matters," it said.

So Jun-fai, a 32-year-old home appliances sales manager, said he still felt resentment towards the Japanese.

"But if the Japanese warship is coming for a commercial reason and in friendship, then I welcome it," he said.

For others in Zhanjiang, some with relatives who recall Imperial Army atrocities, the opening up of their home port to a Japanese warship brought out often divided feelings.

"I'm Chinese and the fact remains they (the Japanese) hurt us once," said Wang Qun, a diner at a roadside restaurant serving dog meat.

"It's something belonging to past generations. We shouldn't remember but in my heart there's still something like a shadow." (Reporting by James Pomfret, Lindsay Beck in Beijing and Isabel Reynolds in Tokyo; Editing by Jeremy Laurence)

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