After Shimei graduated from a school of western studies (the present-day Aichi Prefectural Asahigaoka High School), the Treaty of Saint Petersburg, signed between Japan and Russia at the time, roused in him a feeling that Japan was in a crisis against Russia, and he applied to the Military Academy (Japan).
洋学校（現・愛知県立旭丘高等学校）卒業後、当時、ロシアとの間に結ばれた千島樺太交換条約をうけて、ロシアに対する日本の危機感を持ち、陸軍士官学校(日本)を受験した。