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TI: Okay, so Muriel, the way I start this is with the date and everything. So today is Tuesday, June 2, 2009, and we are in Honolulu, Hawaii, at the Japanese Cultural...

MO: Center.

TI: Cultural Center. Is it JCCH? Japanese Cultural Center of Hawaii.

MO: Center of Hawaii.

TI: That's right. Running the camera is Dana Hoshide, and I'm interviewing, Tom Ikeda. And today we have Muriel Onishi. So Muriel, I'm going to start off at the very beginning. Can you tell me when you were born?

MO: I was born March 6, 1921, in Hilo, Hawaii.

TI: And what was the name given to you at birth?

MO: Chiyo.

TI: So Chiyo Tanaka?

MO: Tanaka.

TI: Did you have a middle name or anything like that?

MO: No.

TI: Okay, so Chiyo Tanaka, 1921, so that makes you eighty-eight years old.

MO: That's right.

TI: So that's, and that's an important year. Did you have any birthday celebrations or anything?

MO: Yes, we did. Everybody, my daughter had a surprise beiju no iwai. Beiju no iwai means eighty-eighth.

TI: And can you tell me the significance of the eighty-eighth birthday, why that's so important?

MO: Gee, I'm not sure. But I know it is, in Japan, "beiju" is considered very important.

TI: Okay, good.

<End Segment 1> - Copyright ©2009 Densho. All Rights Reserved.