Actor Takaoka Sousuke (29) has caused another stir with his twitter posts. On July 23, he complained about the “excessive” broadcasting of Korean TV shows on Japanese networks, saying that he always changes the channel when they come on. He referred to “8,” thought to be a reference to the Fuji TV network which uses that channel number in the Tokyo/Kanto area, saying it often seems more like a Korean channel. “We Japanese want to watch traditional Japanese programs. If anything Korean comes on, I switch it right away.”
A few days later, on July 26, Takaoka reluctantly tweeted, “I don’t want to write this but I’ve been asked to so I will. My wife doesn’t feel the same way as I do.” He is married to top young actress Miyazaki Aoi (25) and the post was no doubt an attempt to avoid the controversy adversely affecting her career. Riding high on the back of successful movie and TV roles, she is currently also considered the ‘TV commercial Queen.’ The couple have been married since June, 2007 but the media have reported several times on tensions in their marriage, and Takaoka has on occasion posted online about the possibility of a split. He has had his blog shut down several times in the past due to controversial posts.
Thousands of messages, both of support and criticism, have been posted to popular Japanese sites like 2Channel, while the online response from Koreans has been overwhelmingly, and predictably critical. This morning Takaoka – currently in the U.S. where he is appearing in a stage production – continued to add fuel to the fire. “I’m just one actor, one person, one citizen…what does it say that they’re trying to control my freedom of expression like this? The world is a scary place. All this because of (comments about) Korean entertainment.”