Background
Shimono was born and raised in Sacramento, California, to restaurant owners, Masauchi Shimono and Edith Mary (née Otani).
Shimono was born and raised in Sacramento, California, to restaurant owners, Masauchi Shimono and Edith Mary (née Otani).
He attended Sacramento High School and graduated from University of California, Berkeley.
He has one sibling: Doctor Jiro Shimono, director of the Delaware Psychiatric Center. During World World War II, Shimono and his family were interned at the Tule Lake War Relocation Center and the Granada War Relocation Center. He was cast as Ito opposite Angela Lansbury"s Auntie Mame in Jerry Herman"s Broadway musical hit Mame in 1966.
This was followed by Lovely Ladies, Kind Gentlemen (1970), The Chickencoop Chinaman (1972), Ride the Winds (1974), and the role of Manjiro in Stephen Sondheim & Harold Prince"s Pacific Overtures (1976).
In 2010, he appeared in the world premiere of Number-Number Boy by Ken Narasaki based on the novel by John Okada. His more memorable film roles include Hiroshi Kawamura in the 1990 drama Come See the Paradise, the coroner "Painless" Kumagai in 1990"s Presumed Innocent, Doctor Max Shinoda in 1993"s Suture, Lord Norinaga in 1993"s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III, and in Old Dogs, alongside John Travolta and Robin Williams, as Japanese billionaire Yoshiro Nishamura.
He can also be seen in Asian American independent films, The Sensei (2008), Americanese (2009) and Life Tastes Good (1999). On television, he starred on the 2008 abc family miniseries Samurai Girl.
He also appeared in Royal Pains, season 3 episode "But there"s a catch", as Jono the gardener.
In 1991 he had a role in the television movie/pilot Plymouth, which at the time was considered to be one of the most expensive such movies ever made.