The Japanese have a strong tendency to suppress their own feelings. That’s the Japanese character. They kill their own emotions.

The more that Japanese players go to the big leagues to play and succeed, the more that will serve to inspire young kids in Japan to want to become baseball players when they grow up.

I heard that in the United States the level of baseball was the highest in the world. So it was only natural that I would want to go there, as a baseball player.

If I’m in a slump, I ask myself for advice.

The Japanese have a strong tendency to suppress their own feelings. That’s the Japanese character. They kill their own emotions.

Personally, I don’t like the term ‘success.’ It’s too arbitrary and too relative a thing. It’s usually someone else’s definition, not yours.