People striving for approval from others become phony.

I'm told I either look bigger than I do on television or that I look smaller than I look on television. No one seems to think I look the same size.

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.

When you mail Ichiro something from the States, you only have to use that name on the address and he gets it (in Japan). He's that big.

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

When I look at the records and see where my place in the history of the game (in Japan with Orix) might be, I guess you could say it was a good decision to come here. It's not just me. Maybe I'll have an effect on others in the international part of the game.

I love baseball, but being here (in the United States), I've been able to play golf every day. I can't play in Japan because every course has caddies, and the caddies all want autographs and don't want to let me golf.