[1][2] At the time of his death he was the Supreme Instructor of Wado Kai Karate in North America.

[3] At the start of World War II, all Canadians of Japanese descent were sent to relocation centres throughout the country.

[4] Shintani's early martial arts training was in the relocation camps at the age of 14, studying judo, kendo and aikido.

[3] Some time in the early 1940s, Shintani and a group of boys from the relocation camp were looking for a place to play Hockey, when they came across Akira Kitagawa practicing Shōrin-ryū karate, using a tree as a makiwara.

[3] Shintani accepted this honour, and subsequently became the head of all Wado Karate-do in North America and was conferred the title of Supreme Instructor.

[2] In the last years before his death, Shintani spent much of his time developing Karate and Shindō concepts and travelled to various regions of North America and overseas to conduct seminars.

The next day, with his condition being upgraded to stable, the doctors decided to have Shintani returned to Hamilton via air-ambulance to be under his physician's care.