Ichiro Suzuki, who re-signed with the Yankees for two years in the off-season, is perhaps two years away from reaching 3,000 hits in the majors. Associated Press

TAMPA, Fla.—For Ichiro Suzuki, the numbers have always mattered.

As a boy, he pored over the record books of American baseball. As an adult, he makes a pilgrimage to Cooperstown every year. The Japanese star is well aware of his unique place in baseball history, and how each milestone he reaches helps to define it.

Now, the number 3,000 is coming into view. As the 2013 season approaches, Ichiro, the Yankees' right fielder, stands 394 away from reaching 3,000 major-league hits—an astonishing achievement considering he didn't move to the U.S. until his age-27 season.

Now 39, Ichiro could reach 3,000 hits on his current two-year Yankee contract—which is his goal.

"He knows exactly what he needs for any accomplishment and would like nothing better than to accomplish the hitting feat while in New York," said Mark Attanasio, Ichiro's longtime agent.

Combine Ichiro's nine seasons and 1,278 hits in Japan with his 12 years and 2,606 hits in the majors and even more interesting milestones appear.

Ichiro is 116 hits from reaching a combined 4,000 between the two leagues. And he is 372 away from Pete Rose's major-league record total of 4,256.

And yet, as he comes within striking distance of these milestones, the numbers have started to mean less and less.

Ichiro came to the U.S. dogged by what he calls "naysayers"—those who didn't believe a Japanese position player could succeed. Every time he put up a great number or broke a record, he felt pride in proving them wrong.

"In the end of 2000, before I came to America, a lot of people were saying no Japanese player could ever make it in America, no position player," Ichiro said through an interpreter. "And in the last 10-plus years, I think I've been able to prove that was possible."

Now, universally acknowledged as an all-time great—and freed from the losing environment that he faced for years with the Seattle Mariners—Ichiro has begun to focus less on disproving doubters, or caring about what numbers like 3,000 hits say about his place in baseball history.

When he was with Seattle, Ichiro thought about the numbers often. He set specific personal goals—like reaching 200 hits—as a way of keeping himself sharp during one losing season after another.

There were times when he was criticized for caring too much about his own stats. "When I was with the Mariners, there were a lot of seasons where you had to have personal goals, you had to have things to motivate you in order to keep playing at the highest level," Ichiro said.

But since joining the Yankees, he has found new motivation in the quest for the one thing missing from his baseball résumé: a championship.

"When I came to the Yankees, it's kind of a different way, in how I am," Ichiro said. "Obviously with the Yankees, those motivations aren't needed.

"Wearing this Yankee uniform, getting to that number—numbers are important. And that would definitely be a very special moment. But for now, there are other things on my mind."

Former major-league outfielder So Taguchi, who played alongside Ichiro for nine seasons in Japan, said Ichiro understands what these milestones mean—"4,000 hits, what a number," Taguchi said—but that they now pale in comparison to his desire for a championship.

"His mind is so much for the team," Taguchi said. "He's never gotten a ring. He's played 13 years here. He wants to have a ring, that's most important."

Still, Ichiro's march toward these milestones, official and unofficial, figures to stoke enormous interest in Japan, said Keizo Konishi, a reporter with Kyodo News who has covered Ichiro for the past 20 years. When Ichiro nears 4,000 combined hits, likely this year, Konishi expects a frenzy.

"Oh yes, very much," Konishi said. "I think that when the point comes, when he's 20 hits short, or 30 hits short, I think Japanese media will focus on it a great deal."

And if he nears 3,000 hits and Rose's record, the fervor will intensify. If Ichiro gets to 3,000, it would solidify his case for induction into the Hall of Fame, which would be the ultimate validation for Ichiro and all Japanese position players.

"Japanese fans recognize that 3,000 hits is a great ticket for Cooperstown," Konishi said.

But can he get there?

Ichiro needs to average 197 hits each of the next two years to hit the mark. When he was younger, 200 hits was a poor season, but the last two years, he has gotten 184 and 178.

Ichiro hasn't decided on his long-term plans. He wouldn't say whether he would retire or play on if he doesn't reach 3,000 within two years. He wants to do it in the next two years, in New York, as part of a championship campaign.

But he sounds like he plans to get there eventually, one way or the other.

"Getting to that 3,000 would mean a lot, obviously," Ichiro said. "I've always just wanted to be a player who is wanted and needed, and as long as I can prepare myself and do well enough I think I'll be able to have that opportunity to get there."

Write to Daniel Barbarisi at daniel.barbarisi@wsj.com