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I admire Ichiro for what he's doing -- and obviously this is something that he's been working on all offseason long, so it's not like a brand new thing.  But count me among those who are a bit skeptical as to whether or not this is actually going to work.
Think about it.  Over the course of his 20 year long career (Japanese leagues and MLB) ... and all the years prior to that (minor leagues, little league, etc.) Ichiro has logged thousands upon thousands of hours ... doing things the exact same way ... repeating and perfecting his swing over and over and over again. 
To me, the issue is about muscle memory.  We talk about it all the time in athletics -- it's much easier to teach "good habits" early on ... than it is to correct bad habits later on.  That's not to say that what Ichiro is doing is a "bad thing" ... it's just to acknowledge how very hard it is to make those adjustments once patterns get set in place.  In the NFL, people talk about what it would take to change Tim Tebow's mechanics and most agree that it will take several years, as he has learned to do things a certain way.  We talked about swing changes in relation to Michael Saunders and just how hard that process is going to be for him ... and he's only 25 years old -- not 38 like Ichiro. 
Monkeying around with mechanics CAN potentially be a dangerous thing for an athlete.  THE prime example of that ... is Tiger Woods.
As all of you know, Tiger Woods WAS the most dominant golfer on the face of planet for many years.  There was Tiger ... and there was everyone else.  But due to a series of events and failures ... Tiger decided to adjust his swing.  He made adjustments again ... and then again.
Tiger Woods made so many adjustments in his swing ... that he forgot who he was and what made him successful in the first place.  In the process he has watched his status go from the #1 Ranked player in all the world ... clear down to the #20 Ranked player.  In combination with his physical issues and all the personal chaos in his life that has weighed him down ... those swing changes really messed with him. 
Interestingly enough, his 4th swing change and his latest  ... is (according to Tiger) a return to OLD swing and the things that he used to do with his dad ...
"I went back to all of my old stuff that my dad and I used to work on," Woods said. "And that's when I felt that my stroke started becoming more sound, more solid, my speed became better. I don't know what that dude saw in my game, but he really knew putting and he knew my stroke. My dad really knew my stroke."
http://sports.espn.go.com/golf/news/story?id=6251973
So in terms of Ichiro and the adjustments he's making, it's possible that this might work because (I mean after all) he is Ichiro.  BUT, we've also got to acknowledge that attempting to change the leopard's spots has an equal potential to be an exercise in frustration.  We might be able to spread bleach on those spots and get rid of them for awhile --- but over time, my guess is that those spots will re-appear once again because that's just who he is.  Just ask the fox who allowed the scorpion to crawl on his back in order to cross the stream.
MA