The funny thing is not how different Japanese and American baseball is, but how, in some ways, each country longs to be a little more like the other. In Japan, they stress fundamentals over and over, so much so that making a bad error is an almost certain way to get yanked out of the game. Players bunt and steal bases, pitchers throw strikes, nobody draws attention to themselves. Yet, here the game is played with a looseness, a joy, that is missing for many players there. Japanese baseball is serious business, beginning early in the morning.
Pitchers run miles the day they pitch.
Hitters will take batting practice for an hour before every game. The strike zone is wider there, the pitchers throw harder here, the ballparks are smaller there, the season is longer here. You can rail on and on about the differences, but it's all baseball. That's what Ichiro proves. He kneels like a catcher before every pitch, and he lifts his leg while the pitcher winds up, and he actually jumps at the ball as he swings, exactly how you are not supposed to do it.