“Composers can do things that weren’t allowed in the 17th century. Until we had composers like Igor Stravinsky and Sergei Rachmaninoff to break the rules.”

I have a huge record and cd collection of all kinds of great classical, jazz and all music but I find the internet very accessible and quick.

When you play competitive tennis you are competing against someone else and you have to win. Playing music I didn’t have to win I had to become better within myself.

The thing I learned from playing tennis is that I know what competition is. I can handle rejection.

When I lost a tennis match that made me upset or hurt emotionally I would find myself going to the piano and playing for hours. It was my place of refuge and solace.

There is competition. It’s almost like I’m back in tennis competing in a way. There are usually about twenty composers vying for the number one spot for a big or medium film.

Sometimes it’s very hard to turn off my brain especially when I have an eighteen hour day. I try to stop working by 10 or 11pm but you know sometimes there is nothing I can do about it.

I was an accomplished junior tennis player up to around fourteen years old. At fourteen or fifteen I made the decision to venture off to make my life 100% music.

You cannot do what I do for a living without having a thick skin.

Even after centuries of human interacting, children still continue to rebel against their parents and siblings.

If I could only live another century!

Even after centuries of human interacting, children still continue to rebel against their parents and siblings.

I have been the struggler of the century. Fortunately, everyone loves the underdog.

I believe it is important that we Japanese write a constitution for ourselves that would reflect the shape of the country we consider desirable in the 21st century.

The 20th Century was a century in which human rights were infringed upon in numerous parts of the world, and Japan also bears responsibility in that regard.

It is important to build good partnerships rather than score centuries.

As we look ahead into the next century, leaders will be those who empower others.