Ichiro played for the Japan national baseball team in the inaugural World Baseball Classic in March of 2006. During the March 15 Japan-Korea game Ichiro was booed by a few spectators during every at-bat, reportedly in response to a previous statement that he wanted "to beat South Korea so badly, that the South Koreans won't want to play Japan for another 30 years."[8] That, however, was an incorrect translation mostly spread to the public through ESPN. Ichiro was variously quoted as saying 「戦った相手が『向こう30年は日本に手は出せないな』という感じで勝ちたいと思う」 which roughly translates to "I would like to win in a way for the opponent to think that 'we cannot catch up with Japan for 30 years in the future.'" as well as
(>>2の続き) 「アジアラウンド(1次リーグ)では向こう30年、日本に勝てないと思わせるぐらいやっつけたい。ファンのみなさんは、いくらでも期待 してください」 which roughly translates to "I want to beat the teams in the Asia Round so they think they can't win against Japan for another 30 years. Fans, you will see the best team in Asia." Japan would later beat Korea in the playoffs and win the tournament after defeating Cuba in the finals, 10-6.[9] Ichiro was one of only two Major League Baseball players on Team Japan, the other being reliever Akinori Otsuka. Throughout the course of the tournament, Ichiro provided twelve hits, seven runs, four stolen bases, and one home run.