Since I am a Japanese man who's been building through the experience of Japanese architecture, my actual designs come from Japanese architectural concepts, although they're based on Western methods and materials.

I would like my architecture to inspire people to use their own resources, to move into the future.

Look at London or Paris: they're both filthy. You don't get that in Tokyo. The proud residents look after their city.

I hope that America as a whole, and especially its architects, will become more seriously involved in producing a new architectural culture that would bring the nation to the apex - where it has stood before - and lead the world.

You always want to try to make something new, and, of course, America is the world leader in economics today.

In the West there has always been the attempt to try make the religious building, whether it's a Medieval or Renaissance church, an eternal object for the celebration of God. The material chosen, such as stone, brick, or concrete, is meant to eternally preserve what is inside.

I am interested in things happening around me, and I need to understand what's going on in other artistic sectors like music and literature.