I'd like to greet all the players in the J. League and look forward to seeing the joy of football in Japan this year. I'd specifically like to welcome the new foreign players. My message to you, as well as to the Japanese players, is simply play your best, play football.
Of course, my main focus is the Japanese players, but the input of the foreign players here is very important. We welcome you and hope you can share your experience with your fellow players and the fans. You will only do yourselves good by making a big contribution to Japanese football.
One of the big successes of the French team has been the way it has been able to cross cultures. It doesn't matter if you're black, Arabic, white or whatever; you are footballers on a team.