Kauai County HI Archives Obituaries.....Shibuya, Mataujira, Suye, Koichi, And Makoto May 25, 1922
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K KM hawaiizeis@gmail.com February 24, 2015, 2:36 pm

The Garden Island, Lihue, Kauai, Tues., 5-2-1922
SHIBUYA, MATSUJIRA & SUYE & KOICHI & MAKOTO
POISONING WIPES OUT ENTIRE JAPANESE FAMILY.  An entire Japanese family was wiped 
out last week in Puhi camp thru a form of poisoning called botulism, which they 
contracted from eating salmon eggs that were preserved in a fashion peculiar to 
the Japanese, according to authorities that are investigating the case. The dead 
are Matsujira Shibuya, aged 46, the father of the family; Suye Shibuya, aged 28, 
the mother; Koichi, aged 5, and Makoto, aged 3, the two sons. The salmon eggs were 
purchased at a local store on the 21st of the month. None were eaten, however, 
until the 24th when they were partaken of freely by the father and the two sons. 
The mother took a little or none of the eggs but ate some food out of a lunch tin 
that had had the salmon eggs in it. Shibuya went to work as usual that morning but 
was taken ill in the fields about 11 AM. He left his work and spent the day at a 
friend's house, returning to his own home that evening. Dr. Kuhns was called on 
Wednesday morning to treat the sick man. This form of poisoning is extremely 
virulent, and though heroic measures were used by Dr. Kuhns and his assistants, 
Shibuya died the following evening at about 11:30. Koichi, the older boy, was 
stricken at about 9 AM on Tuesday morning and failed very rapidly, dying at 6 PM 
that same evening. The younger boy, Makoto, was taken ill at about the same time 
but lived until the next evening about 8 o'clock. The mother was taken to the 
Lihue hospital on Wednesday where she lingered until Saturday morning. Although 
several other parties had purchased salmon eggs from the very same tub that the 
Shibuya family had bought theirs, there has been no report of anyone suffering 
from any illness that carries symptoms peculiar to botulism. A specimen of the 
salmon eggs were sent to the territorial laboratories in Honolulu, and it was 
first announced that the salmon eggs were negative, but the next day a wire came 
to disregard the first report as a guinea pig that had been inoculated had died 
within 24 hours. Mr. Cook, the territorial board of health inspector, had 
confiscated the tub of eggs just as soon as it was suspected of being the cause of 
the tragedy to prevent any further spread of the poisoning. 


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