issues of German war responsibility after World War II. She began to explore the representation of war history and memory within her own artwork following the death of the Showa Emperor in 1989, when she was troubled by nostalgic portrayals of Japan’s wartime history. She was angered by what she viewed as a failure of the Japanese press and media to reflect on anything other than a romantic version of the past. Shimada began to explicitly deal with the issue of ‘comfort women’ in the early 1990s, after three Korean women who had filed lawsuits again the Japanese government gave the testimony of their experiences as ‘comfort women’ during the Asia Pacific War. Shimada’s early series of etchings entitled “Past Imperfect” engaged with the artist's deep interest in gender roles while challenging the popular viewpoint that the Asia-Pacific War was an 'unavoidable tragedy.' She debuted this series together at Tanishima Gallery in Tokyo’s Meguro Ward in 1993, presenting 25 xerox transfer etchings compiled from newspaper clippings and archival photographs of various women during the Asia-Pacific War. Her imagery explored the role of Japanese women who had contributed to the Imperial war effort, in her attempt to intervene in this often overlooked reality of wartime responsibility. The etching Shooting Lesson (1992) was regarded as one of the most critical works from the series, presenting a photograph of the wives of Japanese military police stationed in Korea receiving shooting lessons for self-protection against the local population, juxtaposed with the portraits of four Korean comfort women. Through these comparisons, Shimada sought to demonstrate how Japanese women also participated in and strengthened the war effort. White Aprons (1993) is a triptych in which three different representations of Japanese women protecting their nation during the war are juxtaposed: one highlighting the role of housewife, one showcasing women learning to defend themselves from anti-Japanese attacks in the new Imperial colonies, and one in which members of the Japanese National Defence Women’s Organization see the soldiers off to war. In this triptych, as well as the installation Tied to Apron Strings (1993) that she created and exhibited during this time, Shimada depicted women wearing white aprons, kappōgi, as both a symbol of domesticity and motherhood and as a reminder of the uniform of the Dai Nippon Fujinkai, a Japanese women's patriotic organization formed during the war effort. The etching A House of Comfort (1993) juxtaposed a mansion-like