STORY OF TRAGIC DEATH OF KATO FAMILY IN 1937
Jul
1
I first heard this story from Masako Nakanishi, my mo-in-law. When she was age 7, she was escorted from Duvall, WA, to Hiroshima, Japan, with Rihichi and Suie Kato (parents of Enichi Kato) in 1916 for her education. Sharon Komoto Kosai sent me these details yesterday, June 2024.
“Probably the most well-known story from Auburn Pioneer Cemetery involves the Kato family tragedy.
The 1930s were difficult times for most Americans but for the Kato family, financial difficulties and apparent ill-health eventually became insurmountable. By 1937, suicide seemed the only way out. On Valentine’s Day, the wife and four children ingested sleeping pills and after falling into a deep sleep, were killed by the husband, Enichi.
The original plan had Enichi following his loved ones into death but curiously, this never happened. Worrying that there would be no funeral markers for his family, he buried the bodies in the back yard and left for California. Presumably, he sought to earn enough to pay for individual headstones before taking his own life.
Law enforcement officials eventually caught up with Enichi and he was sentenced to life in prison. “ http://www.auburnpioneercemetery.net/biographies/trees/kato.pdf
Daily News (Los Angeles), Volume 14, Number 158, 5 March 1937
"Suicide Guard Put Over Confessed Slayer of Family RICHMOND, Calif., March 4. (IXD A suicide guard was placed tonight around the cell of Enichi Kato, Japanese truck gardener, who confessed to a St. Valentines Day massacre" of his wife and four children In their Auburn, Wash., home. It was feared Kato might follow his original plan to take his own life to Join his family. He had' delayed suicide, ha told authorities, in order to earn sufficient money to give his family a decent burial. Officers art expected to reach here tomorrow from Auburn to take the gardener back to the scene of the slayings.”
I don't know the accuracy of this family tree: http://www.auburnpioneercemetery.net/biographies/trees/kato.pdf
Gloria Wakimura Shinkawa stopped by the Temple a few weeks ago. Her grandmother, Tora, was killed by the second husband, Enichi Kato.
In the early 1950s in my growing up years there was a husband and wife suicide. In both instances, it was sad, but there was not a lot of judgement. My guess is that times were difficult and many had thought about it being their own way out. The Japanese Heritage Values prevailed and the saying kept in mind: "Seven times down and Eight times up" was practiced!
