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

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.

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

I want to be the first player to show what Japanese batters can do in the major league.

I've always prided myself in not reveling in past accomplishments and focusing on future achievement, instead. That's been my career motto.

Some people enjoy taking a light stroll in the morning and that gives them relief and that sort of feeling. That is what I gain by practicing, by swinging the bat.