Americans really don't understand the Japanese nature, but it's not an easy thing to understand.

My major intention for coming to Hollywood - besides the fact that I was just enamored with acting from a very young age - was that I was tired of seeing wimpy Asian actors.

There are a lot of wannabe men in Hollywood. But when you have that Hollywood mentality, there aren't a lot of real, grounded people.

I've been in a lot of cult movies, but I've been very fortunate to have been involved in projects that people remember.

There were times when I purposely didn't go to school because of Pearl Harbor Day, because certainly there was enough media about it every year to remind everybody. So when I heard they were going to make the movie, I thought, "Oh, no, please not another Pearl Harbor mention!"

It's not whether you fall or make a mistake, it's what you do when you fall. And I say you stand up. You keep standing up. It's not how many times you fall, it's how many times you stand up.

In every aspect of society, including business and anywhere that creativity can be used, we can be - or we used to be, anyway - the most innovative country, because we weren't restricted by artificial limitations. We are made to be wild, free, and creative, and this clearly was a symbol of that kind of energy in America.