Japanese high-school baseball star Sasaki Rintaro has said he is determined to have a successful time studying and competing at Stanford University.

Sasaki attended a send-off event organized by the Japan Stanford Association in Tokyo on Monday. About 90 alumni of the US university took part.

The slugger hit 140 home runs for Hanamaki Higashi High School in Iwate Prefecture. MLB two-way star Ohtani Shohei of the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Kikuchi Yusei are graduates of the school.

It is rare for a top Japanese high-school baseball player to attend a US university.

Sasaki said he and his father Hiroshi, his high-school team's head coach, wanted to make a choice that would bring lifelong, not momentary, happiness.

He said he is still immature as a player and needs to learn a lot about things other than baseball. Sasaki asked the participants about study tips and how to brush up his English skills.

He said after the event he is ready to experience failures and learning from them but felt uneasy at the bottom of his heart, so getting advice from former students was helpful.

He said campus life will be harder than he imagines and require perseverance, but he hopes that his experience will lead to success.