[4] In his youth Shimano was ordained as a novice monk by Kengan Goto, the priest of Empuku-ji, the Rinzai temple in Chichibu.

[citation needed] In 1954, Shimano left to study at Ryutaku-ji and practice with Soen Nakagawa Roshi, a relatively young Zen teacher.

In 1964, a rift developed with Aitken:[10][11] according author and journalist Mark Oppenheimer he left Hawaii because his possible involvement with the mental breakdowns of two female students.

[2] His followers included well-heeled individuals such as Dorris Carlson, who gave funds to create a monastery in the Catskills, Dai Bosatsu Zendo, which opened in 1976.

[1] Shimano received Dharma transmission from Soen Nakagawa in 1972 in a public ceremony at the New York Zendo Shobo-ji witnessed by his Sangha.

[2] He attempted to raise concerns including by writing the sexual misconduct and abuse to Zen Studies Society board in 1995.

[1] In 2008, the University of Hawaii at Manoa unsealed his papers, and in 2010 the ZSS board started to work on an ethics guideline which included an acknowledgement of past wrongdoing by Shimano.

[2] However, in June 2010, at a community dinner at the monastery in the Catskills, a female student stood up and stated that for two years she had been having a consensual affair with Shimano.

[19][2][20] Shimano sent a letter of apology to the ZSS community in September, 2010, stating "“Over time, I took your kindness for granted and arrogance grew in my heart.

[24] On July 2, 2011, an open meeting for all sangha members of the ZSS was held, where Shimano encouraged everyone to accept his successor, Shinge Sherry Chayat, as their teacher, and stated unequivocally that in order to avoid further controversy and division, he would no longer formally teach Zen in any capacity.