Japanese rock musician Yoshiki Hayashi, known as Yoshiki, was honoured in Hollywood on Thursday with his handprints and footprints immortalised in cement outside the TCL Chinese Theatre for its Forecourt of the Stars.
The member of "X Japan" is the first Japanese star joining hundreds of legendary celebrities whose artistic achievements have been recognised in this unique and historical fashion by the theater, one of its officials said.
At the imprint ceremony, which included him pressing his drumsticks above his prints, Yoshiki, wearing dark sunglasses and clad in a black suit, joked around and posed as photographers called out to him to get snapshots.
Prints of Japanese musician and songwriter Yoshiki are pictured following the ceremony when Yoshiki places his handprints and footprints in cement at the TCL Chinese Theatre in Los Angeles, California, on Thursday. (Photo: Reuters)
But during an emotional speech almost entirely in English, the 57-year-old multi-instrumentalist said there were countless times he wanted to give up but did not because of his fans and mother.
"I wanted to prove that nothing is impossible. I wanted to prove that a person from Asia, a person from Japan, who didn't speak English could still pursue (the) American dream, could still pursue the Hollywood dream regardless of race, regardless of who you are," he said.
"Nothing's impossible. Be your own rock star," he added before thanking his fans, friends, band members and parents in Japanese.
Marilyn Monroe and film director Steven Spielberg are among the some 300 stars honoured at the site, according to Japan House, a Japanese government facility promoting the country's culture overseas.
