Haiku_Dan comments

And next will come a tsunami of butter? I can't believe it's...oh, never mind.

Immerse yourself is the key. Get a Japanese girlfriend or boyfriend. That will speed things up! It did for me and I married her! Oh and 諦めないでね！

@Madverts, really? You mad bro? Boycotted? Due to some security guard(s) and a few boneheaded retail store staff? Play the Apple is overpriced, only marketed to dumbness, and unnecessary card all you want...they seem to be doing just fine without smart people like you.

Jerseyboy,

Zero meaning? Really? Says who? You? A long-time professional journalist who has covered royal affairs would beg to differ with you. As would many many other people. And as a poster said above, he is above or outside of any true official title other than "Emperor" and can say whatever he damn well pleases. He can't "tell" directly to politicians to do this or that, but in true honorable Japanese fashion has a way with his words and actions to be a better example than the revisionist and simply uninformed politicians.

True it's been the case that a lot of the political rhetoric has bordered on or explicitly been couched in the so-called "victim" mentality...but I only have seen that in the context of the Tokyo firebombings which caused more death and destruction than Hiroshima and Nagasaki...the other two contexts. Though you can argue the long-term effects of radiation eventually did kill more.

But I didn't read (what little there is here) any insult or victimization to the Philippine President or people by the Emperor. If anything, he mentions the US and Japan fighting on the islands as simply expressing the absurdity of war...that two foreign powers are fighting on another foreign land. I wouldn't read too much into that, however.

You say "Should the US feel remorse for liberating them?" - are you saying that if the US hadn't intervened that the Japanese would have taken care of the Filipinos and they'd be fine today or both Japan and the US? Because either way, the question, while grammatically correct, is the wrong question to ask. The better question, if I may, would be: How will the Japanese people feel about and handle Abe's rhetoric in light of the Emperor's comments going into the 70th anniversary of the end of WWII? I believe what Abe says will make or break his administration and tenuous relationship with other Asian countries. I kind of wish for that, but also just wish he'd make a bolder statement and just apologize clearly and directly to the Asian people affected by the Japanese administrations/military during WWII (and before).

Kotaku already debunked this by contacting Sanrio.

Hello Kitty is a personification, but she is a cat, too.

http://kotaku.com/dont-be-silly-hello-kitty-is-a-cat-1627820750?utm_campaign=Socialflow_Kotaku_Facebook&utm_source=Kotaku_Facebook&utm_medium=Socialflow

Wow, you trolls are hilarious. Say what you will about SMAP, but they are entertaining and are good men trying to entertain the best they can be. Several of them are quite experienced and pretty good at acting on TV, especially Kimutaku.

So, I'd suggest people who take the time to troll on Japanese news sites to complain about stuff they don't watch anyway to do what Cleo said above...

1). Find the Off button on the remote.

2). Press it.

3). Get a life away from the box.

In an emergency, skip 1). and 2). and execute 3). immediately.

Enjoy your life entertaining the masses with your righteousness and talent for making people happy!

Oh, that's sarcasm in case you missed it!

Gogogo, it's been out for months elsewhere around the world and been a huge success. As you probably know, Japan usually is one of the last countries to get Hollywood movies and it's summer holiday here so a good time to release it.

It"S ME, I'm not too worried, sequels tend to have a different feel altogether, especially since we've been introduced to Godzilla, the pacing and slow reveal will less so, so I think it shouldn't matter too much on if the same director does it or not. I'm sure he'll have a say in who takes the reigns in his place.

Those of you who don't like 2014 Godzilla have no sense of cinematic storytelling at its finest. The director wanted to bring back the gritty, suspenseful feel of the old and original ゴジラ. It was a really good film all around and the sequel should be even better!

This is all well and good, but TOEIC doesn't really measure communicative or spoken competency. That said, anything over 700 is good and will hopefully provide motivation to improve spoken fluency.