Kunihiko Shiba was born in Paauillo, Hawaii on Apr. 5, 1941. He and his wife Navus resided in Waynesville, NC. Kuni, as he was familiarly known, passed away Thursday, October 11, circa 2007, at the age of sixty six. Kuni was the son of the late Archbishop Kakuo and Kikuno Shiba.
Some of Kuni’s lifetime achievements are as follows:
- Kuni practiced and instructed Judo for the better part of fifty years.
- He placed second in the 1964 Olympic trials in NY while in the Army.
- He earned a sixth degree black belt from the Kodokan in Japan. He later declined a higher rank promotion in respect for his father who himself was a Rokyudan.
- He also earned black belts in Aikido, Kendo, and Shodokan Karate.
- Kuni was the promotion director of the U.S. Judo Inc. and helped found several Judo Clubs throughout the South.
- He taught self defense classes to Haywood County’s local law enforcement agencies for three years.
- He was a director and instructor for the Denver School of Judo.
- Kuni received a baseball scholarship from the University of Hawaii.
- He was a veteran of the United States Army.
He was in the Jerome Arkansas Internment camp during World War II.
