Suzuki Ichirō has declined the People’s Honor Award three times, in 2001, in 2004 and in 2019. In 2001, he said he hoped to receive it once his baseball career was over.
In 2019, after he retired, the government offered it again. He replied: Jinsei no maku o oroshita toki ni itadakeru yō hagemimasu. “I will work hard so that I may receive it when the curtain falls on my life.”