“Those are shrines. Some people believe spirits live in them.”

I find it pointless sitting in my house not working, though I like to go on extended vacations from time to time.

Humans have both the urge to create and destroy.

Problems begin the moment we’re born. We’re born with infinite possibilities, only to give up on one after another. To choose one thing means to give up another. That’s inevitable. But what can you do? That’s what it is to live.

When I start creating a villain, I start liking the villain and so the villain is not really evil.

People in Japan have experienced many tsunamis and various earthquakes throughout the ages.

The love of weaponry is often a manifestation of infantile traits in an adult.

In the middle of hatred and killings, there are things worth living for.

Since I am a person who starts work without clear knowledge of a storyline, every single scene is a pivotal scene.

You may not like what’s happening, but just accept it, and let’s try to live together.

My process is thinking, thinking and thinking – thinking about my stories for a long time.

I think we should stop using nuclear power plants because it’s an old system that we can’t control.

Do everything by hand, even when using the computer.

Yet once being born there is no turning back.

I’ve become skeptical of the unwritten rule that just because a boy and girl appear in the same feature, a romance must ensue.

We each need to find our own inspiration. Sometimes it is not easy.

The villains are all parts of me.

The followers of Jesus did not die for what they believed – they died for what they claim to have seen.

Faith means believing the unbelievable.

You will only sacrifice when you passionately believe in the outcome.

There’s room for boys’ and girls’ football in the world-that’s what I believe.

I believe in getting into hot water; it keeps you clean.

Though a good deal is too strange to be believed, nothing is too strange to have happened.

I don’t call my people fans, I call them believers, because they go above and beyond.

Don’t become cynical. Don’t give up hope. Don’t believe that everything is judged only by expediency. There is idealism in this world. There is human brotherhood.