People striving for approval from others become phony.

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.

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.

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

As professionals we have a responsibility of providing a good show for the fans. Getting hits and home runs is what they want to see.

I'm not a big guy and hopefully kids could look at me and see that I'm not muscular and not physically imposing, that I'm just a regular guy. So if somebody with a regular body can get into the record books, kids can look at that. That would make me happy.