entry in the architectural design competition for the California Pavilion at the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition, he lost to Brown, but moved to Chicago to take up a position as Construction Site Deputy Manager, improving his professional experience. While managing the California Pavilion construction site, Shimoda studied steel frame construction methods, under Daniel Burnham who was General Manager of site construction for the Exposition. Wishing to further his study of steel-frame construction, he took up employment at D.H. Burnham & Company, which allowed him to work on steel-frame construction projects such as Reliance Building, Western Union Telegraphy Building, the Great Northern Hotel and Marshall Field department store. In May 1895, at the Illinois Cook County Court, Shimoda became a naturalized citizen of the United States, thereafter he left founded the offices of G.K. Shimoda located in the Monadnock Building on West Jackson Boulevard, Chicago. It was during the Autumn of 1896 that Shimoda married an American citizen named Rose, who was employed as Frank Lloyd Wright's secretary. During his time in Chicago, he had briefly worked under Frank Lloyd Wright. In September 1897, Shimoda became the first Japanese national to pass the American Institute of Architects exam. Shimoda became well known among the Japanese expatriate community in Chicago, and received visits from Japanese nationals visiting the area. When he received a visit from Katayama Tōkuma, the chief engineer to the Imperial House of Japan for the construction of Akasaka Palace, Shimoda introduced him to Daniel Burnham. In 1909, for this service to the Imperial Household, Shimoda would receive a grace-and-favor payment of 500 yen in gold. Return to Japan In 1898, he returned with his wife to Yokohama, where he involved himself in various controversies regarding prestigious buildings being planned in Japan. At first he opened an architectural office in Tokyo, and worked to popularize low cost steel frame construction methods, but met with opposition from Kingo Tatsuno, and in 1901 he moved to Yokohama to establish , which specialized in architectural and building services exclusive to the foreign expatriate community. In 1918, he strongly opposed the Westernised design of the planned Diet Building, and instead proposed a design in a style he called Teikan-heigo, or 'Imperial Crown Eclecticism'. This style combined a Western Neoclassical facade, with a roof style derived from those on Japanese temples and shrines. His proposal for the competition was rejected, so he submitted a design