He is not as eccentric as oddball South African coach Peter de Villiers or as acerbic as Graham Henry, but he is worth listening to in an era of limited soundbites.
On the eve of Japan's second World Cup match, against the All Blacks in Hamilton tonight, Kirwan grasped the sense of drama and occasion.
"If you've ever been to Disneyland and seen the big roller coaster, it's a bit like that," he started.
"A little bit exciting and a little bit scary at the same time. That's how we feel about playing the All Blacks."
He is right to feel some trepidation. The All Blacks beat Japan 145-17 at the 1995 World Cup in South Africa. It is the only time the two nations have played an official test and New Zealand's total, when Marc Ellis ran in six tries, is still a World Cup record for the highest number of points scored in a game.
A lot has changed in world rugby since then, but not enough for Japan to be competitive even though the All Blacks will be missing Richie McCaw, Dan Carter, Mils Muliaina, Israel Dagg and Kieran Read.
Japan has not won in 15 World Cup games (another tournament record) since it beat Zimbabwe 52-8 in 1991, and that has not changed against New Zealand.
Kirwan knows that and made 10 changes to the side that threatened to upset France. His eyes are set on beating Canada and Tonga and, as much as he wants to see his side perform well against the country he played for 63 times, he will not deviate from the bigger goal.
The Japanese have already earned respect for the way they played against France and enhancing that is about as good as Kirwan can hope for.
"We want to take to the field to win," he said. "All the guys want to give it their best shot. We want to defend with our hearts on our sleeves. We want to hold on to the ball and play some good football.
"I think that Japan has improved enough for everyone to give us respect. Winning the [Pacific National] championships and the way we played last week [against France], I think the All Blacks will give us the respect we deserve.
"I'm disappointed for them, obviously. They've picked up niggles but it doesn't change anything for us.
"This particular team has been together long enough that it won't disrupt them [but] it would've been a real honour for [Richie McCaw] to play his 100th against us."