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

When people get placed upon a pedestal - when they start chasing after that person on the pedestal - they become mannequin-like.

I think if you look at the friends, the kinds of relationships I have, I am not the kind of guy who has many shallow relationships. I think you could say I am the kind of guy who has a few relationships, but those are very deep.

You should seek approval from yourself.

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.

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.

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.