The Japanese minister described the atmosphere as severe, Kyodo News agency said, while his Chinese opposite number restated Beijing's sovereignty over the islands, Xinhua news agency said.
The islands, called Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China, are controlled by Japan but claimed by China and Taiwan.
Tension in the region has been high since Japan's purchase of the islands from their private Japanese owner.
Both Chinese and Taiwanese fishing and surveillance vessels have sailed in and out of waters around the islands - which lie in the East China Sea - in recent days.
On Tuesday, Japanese and
Taiwanese ships sprayed water at each other after a Taiwanese flotilla
briefly entered what Japan says are its territorial waters.
'Gross violation' The meeting between Japan's Koichiro Gemba and China's Yang Jiechi took place late on Tuesday.
Mr Yang "reiterated China's solemn position" on the islands, Xinhua said, calling the Japanese government's purchase "a gross violation of China's territorial integrity and sovereignty".
Mr Gemba urged China to exercise restraint and described the mood as "severe", Kyodo news agency reported.
The row over ownership of the islands has been rumbling for years and has flared sporadically. This time, it has led to anti-Japanese protests in several Chinese cities and a warning from China that economic ties could be affected.
A number of Japanese companies were forced to briefly halt operations earlier this month because of protests.
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