Via tokyohive: Actor Takaoka Sousuke, who recently launched fiery criticisms of TV companies that overemphasized  the "Korean wave", updated his blog on August 10th with a sudden apology, titled, "To the many people who have given me their opinions". "About this incident with the things I said on Twitter, I have been reflecting deeply about my lack of consideration in what I said, and I would like to sincerely apologize for causing trouble to the many people who have supported me up until now, and more than anything, to my family who have been by my side." Along with his apology, he also expressed his gratitude, saying, "I truly want to thank the many people who have given me their words of encouragement." Talking about his plans for the future, he wrote, "As a human being, I want to deepen my understanding once again of the influence that words have, and as a person expressing myself, I want to keep going diligently every day so that I can convey to even one more person the splendid nature of expression." During the latter half of July, Takaoka posted messages on Twitter such as, "The TV channels pushing Korea are unreasonable. K-POP, do that in your own country." His words set off a chain reaction, as it quickly became a hotly debated topic on the internet, even sparking a demonstration of Fuji TV offices, who have been broadcasting Korean dramas and K-POP. After that, he had continued to tweet about social and political issues, such as his resistance to the Protection of Human Rights Bill, but had suddenly stopped updating since August 5th. On that day, he wrote on his blog, "Lately, I've felt clearly as though the direction of things has changed. There have been a lot of jumping to conclusions or things that I didn't say have been twisted around. I'd like to keep going to my heart's content, but lately I feel too uneasy." "At this rate I can't see the landing point at all, so I'll take a break for a bit." In response to his sudden apology, his blog entry received over 600 comments with sentiments such as, "Please keep going in a Takaoka-like way without regretting your words" and "Even though there was a demonstration, I think it would've happened sooner or later anyway." Source: J-Cast News