New York Yankees slugger Hideki Matsui returned to the United States on Wednesday in top condition and looking forward to the new season.
"I have made good preparations again this year and am really looking forward to the new season," Matsui told reporters before leaving Narita airport.
"My training program went just the way I wanted it to. I think I am in really good shape and determined to become a world champion."
Matsui, who will join up with his Yankees teammates on Feb. 21 for spring training in Florida, finished last season with major-league career highs of a .305 average, 192 hits and 116 RBIs.
He hit 23 homers, compared with a career-best 31 homers in the previous season, as the Yankees ended their 2005 campaign in the first stage of the postseason playoffs, losing to the Los Angeles Angels in the American League Division Series.
In November, Matsui became the highest-paid Japanese player in the majors when he agreed with the Yankees on a new four-year contract worth an estimated $52 million, exceeding the four-year, $44 million deal Ichiro Suzuki signed with the Seattle Mariners in December 2003.
Matsui has decided not to play for Japan at next month's inaugural World Baseball Classic because he wants to put all his efforts into helping the Yankees win the World Series.