Shimada Kaname was born in Marugame in 1885. He worked as a teacher in Osaka. From the late 20s onward he exhibited with Nihon Sōsaku-Hanga Kyōkai. He was a member of the Nihon Hanga Kyōkai from 1932 to 1954. In the 1930s he contributed to various Dōjin magazines, and he was a contributor to Han no Kai. Apart from woodblock prints he also made linocuts.
