[3] In his most distinguished silent films like Fue no Shiratama (1929) and Japanese Girls at the Harbor (1933), he explored a Japan poised between native and Western ideas, traditionalism and liberalism,[4] while stylistically relying on modernist and avant-garde techniques.

[7] In the 1930s, Shimizu increasingly took advantage of shooting on location[3] and with non-professional actors, and was praised at the time by film critics such as Matsuo Kishi and fellow directors as Kenji Mizoguchi.

Thank You (1936), The Masseurs and a Woman (1938) and Ornamental Hairpin (1941) portrayed small groups and communities of travelers or spa residents which, as film historian Alexander Jacoby points out, "concentrated more on the delineation of character than on plot".

[9] In films like Forget Love for Now (1937) and Notes of an Itinerant Performer (1941), his heroine was accepting the burden of supporting a male dependent or relative to afford him the opportunity to go to school or become successful in life.

[4] Forget Love for Now in particular was "critical of the double standard which expects women to sacrifice everything for the sake of their male dependents, while indulging in moralistic condemnation of the methods they are required to adopt to do so" (Jacoby).

[4][10] His experiences with child orphans after World War II led to the film Children of the Beehive (1948), independently produced by the director himself,[11] which Jacoby calls a "masterpiece of neo-realism".