Is 4,000 Really 4,000?

I'm a fan of Ichiro Suzuki. I've followed (sometimes by force) his career through Seattle and now with the Yankees. I'm impressed by his talent to accumulate hits, but when 1,278 of those hits came from Japan how can you really say he has 4,000 hits? Sure Japanese baseball is considered professional baseball, but when they're baseballs are different and the pitching talent is not up to par with the American sport how can you count those hits? I'm more impressed with all them Gold Gloves he racked up in Seattle than the 4,000 hits when a quarter of them came in Japan, but I guess congrats nonetheless. Ty Cobb the suggested racist and Pete Rose the gambler himself, have a legit 4,000+ hits since all of them 4,000+ hits were done while they were in the majors

Is he a Hall of Famer sure why not, is he a hitting machine sure why not, but a 4,000 hit club member? That's where the questions of mine come in..