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TI: I'm the interviewer, Tom Ikeda. The videographer is Matt Emery and helping Matt is Kymmy Hafey. And the date is -- look at my watch -- it's June 19, 1998, and we are at Mas Watanabe's house. And I guess the first question, just to get things going, is, can you tell me when and where you were born?

MW: It's, I was born in Seattle. You want the address?

TI: No, not the address, just...

MW: Eighth and Spruce, a little family home.

TI: And do you remember what year you were born?

MW: 1923.

TI: [Laughs] We do this so we can always know how old our narrators are. [Laughs]

MW: Yeah, 'cause with all this hospital stuff the last couple of weeks, I had to go over my Social Security Number -- [laughs] -- age, and when... when are we going to start?

TI: We're rolling now, but...

MW: Oh -- [laughs] -- you are?

TI: And actually, before, something else we always do is, sometimes we have a notes field, and it probably would be interesting for you to tell us a little bit about the illness that you just recently have been going through, so that people understand sort of your state of mind.

MW: Well, I understand that I had a touch of cancer, which I didn't know, and I've gone through a series of chemo treatments and radiation. I had two surgeries. Hopefully, I think, I'm going to be all right. At least I have a reprieve for six months or something. That's the reason I'm going to Hawaii. [Laughs]

TI: And you sort of gave us a scare last week. We were actually scheduled to do this interview last week, and you weren't feeling well.

MW: I was feeling pretty bad. And then Dr. Kiyonaga, he prescribed some blood for me, which I got three units. [Sneezes] Pardon me. That's when I got rejuvenated and I gave your -- well, your dad told me you had an extra day so I told him, "Hey, maybe we can get this over with."

TI: Right. So, I think it's going to all work out.

MW: Yeah, okay.

<End Segment 1> - Copyright © 1998 Densho. All Rights Reserved.