was a

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

and

cabinet minister A minister is a politician who heads a ministry, making and implementing decisions on policies in conjunction with the other ministers. In some jurisdictions the head of government is also a minister and is designated the ' prime minister', ' p ...

in the pre-war

Empire of Japan The Empire of Japan, also known as the Japanese Empire or Imperial Japan, was the Japanese nation state that existed from the Meiji Restoration on January 3, 1868, until the Constitution of Japan took effect on May 3, 1947. From Japan–Kor ...

Biography

Shimada was born in the city of Gōtsu in

Shimane Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Chūgoku region of Honshu. Shimane Prefecture is the List of Japanese prefectures by population, second-least populous prefecture of Japan at 665,205 (February 1, 2021) and has a ge ...

Japan. In 1900, he graduated from the law department of

Tokyo Imperial University The University of Tokyo (, abbreviated as in Japanese and UTokyo in English) is a public university, public research university in Bunkyō, Tokyo, Japan. Founded in 1877 as the nation's first modern university by the merger of several Edo peri ...

, and found employment as a

journalist A journalist is a person who gathers information in the form of text, audio or pictures, processes it into a newsworthy form and disseminates it to the public. This is called journalism. Roles Journalists can work in broadcast, print, advertis ...

for

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. He was elected to a seat in the Tokyo City assembly in 1903; however, in 1905 he accepted a position as a lecturer at a law school in

Yunnan Province Yunnan; is an inland Provinces of China, province in Southwestern China. The province spans approximately and has a population of 47.2 million (as of 2020). The capital of the province is Kunming. The province borders the Chinese provinces ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

. He returned to Japan in 1907. In 1911, Shimada opened a legal office and began work as a lawyer. He was elected to the

Lower House A lower house is the lower chamber of a bicameral legislature, where the other chamber is the upper house. Although styled as "below" the upper house, in many legislatures worldwide, the lower house has come to wield more power or otherwise e ...

of the

Diet of Japan , transcription_name = ''Kokkai'' , legislature = 215th Session of the National Diet , coa_pic = Flag of Japan.svg , house_type = Bicameral , houses = , foundation=29 November 1890(), leader1_type ...

in the 1912 General Election as an

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, but joined the ''

Rikken Seiyūkai The was one of the main political party, political parties in the pre-war Empire of Japan. It was also known simply as the ''Seiyūkai''. Founded on September 15, 1900, by Itō Hirobumi,David S. Spencer, "Some Thoughts on the Political Devel ...

'' the following year. He was re-elected nine times, and rose within the ''Rikken Seiyūkai'' to eventually become

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of the party from 1937 to 1939. In 1931, Prime Minister

Tsuyoshi Inukai Inukai Tsuyoshi (, 4 June 1855 – 15 May 1932) was a Japanese statesman who was prime minister of Japan from 1931 to his assassination in 1932. At the age of 76, Inukai was Japan's second oldest serving prime minister, after Kantarō Suzuki wh ...

selected Shimada as

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of the

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. He joined the cabinet under the administration of Prime Minister

Kōki Hirota was a Japanese diplomat and politician who served as prime minister of Japan from 1936 to 1937. Originally his name was . He was executed for war crimes committed during the Second Sino-Japanese War at the Tokyo Trials. Early life Hirota was ...

in 1936 as Minister of Agriculture and Forestry. He accepted the same portfolio again in January 1940 under the Yonai administration, and continued to hold that post into the 2nd Konoe administration. As with all other Japanese politicians, Tawara was forced to join the ''

Taisei Yokusankai The , or Imperial Aid Association, was the Empire of Japan's ruling political organization during much of the Second Sino-Japanese War and World War II. It was created by Prime Minister Fumimaro Konoe on 12 October 1940, to promote the goals ...

'' created by Konoe in 1940. During

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, Shimada accepted the cabinet position of Minister of Agriculture and Commerce under the Koiso administration. From June to September 1945, he served as Speaker of the Lower House. Immediately following the

surrender of Japan The surrender of the Empire of Japan in World War II was Hirohito surrender broadcast, announced by Emperor Hirohito on 15 August and formally Japanese Instrument of Surrender, signed on 2 September 1945, End of World War II in Asia, ending ...

in 1945, he became one of the founding members of the Nihon Shimpo-tō political party. However, as with all members of the wartime administration, he was

purge In history, religion and political science, a purge is a position removal or execution of people who are considered undesirable by those in power from a government, another, their team leaders, or society as a whole. A group undertaking such an ...

d from public office by the American occupation authorities in 1946. Shimada died on 21 December 1947.

References

*Yamashita, Samuel Hideo. ''Leaves from an autumn of emergencies''. University of Hawaii Press. (2005) , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Shimada, Toshio 1877 births 1947 deaths People from Gōtsu, Shimane Politicians from Shimane Prefecture University of Tokyo alumni Government ministers of Japan Imperial Rule Assistance Association politicians Rikken Seiyūkai politicians Members of the House of Representatives (Empire of Japan)