Well, they feared an USSR invasion. Now that's gone and Russia alone can't really invade Japan. China can.
Even an "attack" (something short of an invasion), consisting of surgical strikes (and what, nukes?) would be prohibitively costly in every way possible and would also be 100% guaranteed to bring the US in to the conflict.
The Chinese government likes having Japan around as a useful lightning conductor for public anger, which redirects protests away from them. They are Japan's biggest trading partner. They are not going to invade any country this useful and valuable to them.
Please don't use a word like "invade" lightly; it's very, very far from ever being a reality.