Shimada Toranosuke first worked for a television commercial production company. It was not until the 1990s that he began making manga. He submitted Enrique Kobayashi's Eldorado to the AX New Author contest in 2000 and thereafter has published full-length books with regular consistency. His Toroimerai won the 2008 Tezuka Osamu New Spirit Award. His artistic influences include Kurt Vonnegut, Robert Altman, and Sergio Leone. It is said that, while working, he listens continuously to pianist Arturo Benedetti Michelangelli's renditions of Maurice Ravel's compositions.