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Goto was born in 1857 in Iwate prefecture. First, he studied medicine and became the director of Aichi medical school at the age of 25. After receiving his M.D. degree in Germany, Goto became a member of the Public Health Bureau in Japan. By examining Itagaki Taisuke who had been attacked by a thug, he was appointed to the chief of medical bureau of interior ministry. Then he was appointed by Kodama Gentaro to the civilian governor of Taiwan. In 1906, he became the first president of Manchurian railroad then a foreign minister. He was elected mayor of Tokyo in 1920. He died in 1929.
He seems to have had an interest in the founding of Karate and wrote a forward in the first book on the subject. Funakoshi 's (referred to as the founder of Karate) first book 'Ryukyu Kempo Karate' (1922) contained forewords by such people as Marquis Hisamasa , the former Governor of Okinawa, Admiral Rakuro Yashiro , Vice Admiral Chosei Ogasawara , Count Shimpei Goto.
In 1924, Citizen's forerunner, the Shokosha Watch Research Watch Institute produced its first pocket watch the CITIZEN . The then Mayor of Tokyo, Mr Shimpei Goto, named the watch CITIZEN with the hope that the watch, a luxury item of those times, would become widely available to ordinary citizens and be sold throughout the world.