He attended military preparatory schools in Osaka and Tokyo and graduated from the 27th class of the Imperial Japanese Army Academy in 1915.

He was reassigned as an instructor at the Army Staff College from March 1940, and then as head of its Research Bureau from July 1940.

Recalled to combat duty in December 1942, Shidei served as Chief of Staff of the Japanese First Area Army, based in Manchukuo, He remained in this position to October 1944, when he was reassigned to take command of newly-formed IJA 94th Division.

The division was to be used to defend Malaya against the expected Operation Zipper, and took a defensive positions on the north of Malaysia.

Some chinese war historians have stated in their PLA publications that Shidei was on a different flight altogether along with Major General Sato Suguru which was intercepted mid-air by the US Navy forces and they alerted the Kuomintang who ultimately shot down the plane after multiple warnings.