‍Yano Koji, one of the most popular Japanese actors in China, apologized on Monday for comments he made on a Japanese TV show several years ago.

In the show, Yano compared Japanese pet owners with Chinese owners, saying that “Chinese people shouldn't be allowed to raise pets. I often see people walking dogs in neighborhoods in Beijing. Most of them don't pay attention to their dogs' excrement and urine... Japanese people take plastic bags and tissues with them when walking dogs…Not only pets, even Chinese people defecate indiscriminately on the streets recently.”

Screenshots of the show with Chinese subtitles have been circulating on the social media, sparking outrage among Chinese netizens.

Then on Monday night, the 47-year-old explained through his social media that what he said was the isolated phenomenon and that the clip has been edited to look like an insult. But still, he apologized. “My remarks were excessive and overgeneralized. I’ll be more careful.”

Yano has been acting in China for a long time, starring in many anti-Japanese war TV series and movies, often as the “evil Japanese officer”. He married a woman from Chongqing and the couple has a four-year-old daughter. He said he hoped to promote Sino-Japanese friendship in different interviews.

Under the post, most netizens said they understood and showed support.

“It’s true some people are not suitable to own dogs! The media is just looking for news! I support you!” said a netizen called YiqiusuiyuanSJ.

China’s pet industry is one of the fastest growing in the world and there are already millions of pet owners in the country. According to China’s 2016 pet industry white paper, China’s pet market was worth 98 billion yuan (15 billion US dollars) in 2015. And that number is expected to surpass 200 billion yuan in 2020, outpacing the United States, which is currently the world's biggest market.