Goto San in Tokyo
Yesterday, after breathing in solvent fumes for about three hours in the studio, I was chatting with Master Goto. He casually mentioned, "Actually, I was born in Dalian, and came back to Japan before I was even a year old."
Doing the math in my head, that means he returned to Japan from Manchukuo about a year before the Marco Polo Bridge Incident (Wow, that's literally during the WWII era!). Later on, we talked about his favorite foods, and the old master even brought out some samples he was currently painting to show us.
Then, he shared a hilarious story. An American client had commissioned a project and specifically requested the "Dodgers Blue." When the client visited the studio, Master Goto purposely put on a short-sleeved Shohei Ohtani Dodgers jersey and started spray-painting right in front of him!
He said, "It was February at the time, absolutely freezing, and that jersey was short-sleeved!" Hearing that, all of us couldn't help but burst into laughter, and the whole studio was filled with joy. He truly is a cheerful, warm-hearted, and incredible master.