A lot of country making films in English, but in Japan we are very shy to speak English.

None of us knows how long he shall live or when his time will come. But soon, all that will be left of our brief lives is the pride our children feel when they speak our names.

I've been wearing kimono for several years, and armor.

It's a Samurai story [47 ronin], so if we change too much Japanese audiences will have strong against feelings to the film. It's not good.

It's very difficult to introduce the world to our culture.

I believe, the Japanese film industry must be open.

I saw a lot of 47 Ronin on the TV, in the films, and I've done Chushingura Gaiden Yotsuya Kaidan [Crest of Betrayal, 1994] directed by Kinji Fukasaku.

I was a child actor, so when I started filming when I was five years old, it was a long time ago.

This is almost the most famous story The last samurai - Samurai story - in Japan.

I've done Last Samurai in Japan, in LA, in New Zealand. Even in Japan it is very hard to shoot, because there's been so many changes. Only around a temple can we shoot.

This is a good thing, mixing culture to make something new, something no one has ever seen. This is kind of a new history.

Make sure your beliefs match who you are: love.

In art, I think it's not useful to be a professional of the profession. It will not give you something new.

Hitler [had an] excess of imagination, which very frequently foresaw what would happen but also very often went astray.

When it defines man as the enemy, feminism is alienating women from their own bodies.

A man who won't listen can't hear.

People always fancy that we must become old to become wise; but, in truth, as years advance, it is hard to keep ourselves as wise as we were.

A lot of things run through your head when you're going in to relieve in a tight spot. One of them was, "Should I spike myself?"

The only time you should look in your neighbor's bowl is to make sure that they have enough. You don't look in your neighbor's bowl to see if you have as much as them.

We are not especially 'interested in' animals. Neither of us had ever been inordinately fond of dogs, cats, or horses in the way that many people are. We didn't 'love' animals.

To be lost in spiritlessness is the most terrible thing of all.