He was a retainer of the Choshii Clan (Yamaguchi Prefecture). He worked for the cause of the Meiji Restoration (1868) in his youth. In the war of the restoration, he and Tsunayoshi Oyama were staff officers of the Imperial forces which carried out an expedition in northern Japan. When they were encamped at Fukushima City, ready for an attack on Aizu Castle, a delegation of the Sendai and Yonezawa clans arrived and begged that the Aizu campaign be withheld. Shiizo refused the request because the attitude of the delegates was not respectful enough. He was captured by samurai of the Sendai Clan and killed.