He is best known for directing the sitcoms Archie Bunker's Place, Night Court and The Golden Girls.
He is of Japanese descent; he and his family were interned at Manzanar shortly after his birth following the attack on Pearl Harbor and signing of Executive Order 9066.
[2] Before venturing into Hollywood films and TV, Shimokawa taught on the junior high and high school level in Los Angeles, and wrote on the Gardena Valley News, a local bi-weekly paper, as the Sports and Entertainment editor.
Shimowaka holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from University of Southern California (USC) in Comparative Literature.
He presently serves as a visiting professor at New York University's Kanbar Institute of Film & Television.