He first became popular as part of a manzai duo formed with his on-stage partner Matsumoto Ryusuke.
Shimada played an important role for keeping the popularity for contemporary manzai alive - for many years he was the driving force behind the popular manzai competition M-1 Grand Prix.
[2] On August 23, 2011, Shinsuke Shimada announced his retirement after admitting to extensive ties to the yakuza, Japan's organized crime.
[3] The yakuza's dominance in the entertainment industry was a subject that has long been a taboo.
[1] This biographical article related to Japan is a stub.