I don't know what to compare that to. It's for sure each team has something in mind about the other. It's an honor and a pleasure to play a game against them.

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

I feel like I should be more in touch with the nuances of this game.

Many people have this image of me. For a long time, I cared about that.

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.

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