Shinoda Toko was born in China in 1913 and raised in Japan. She developed an active interest in calligraphy from a young age. Shinoda began to experiment with abstraction, soon gaining international recognition - she was invited in 1954 to present one of her works at the Japanese Calligraphy exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art, New York.

Shinoda moved to the US in 1956, where she remained for two years. She travelled the country and also went to Europe, holding solo shows at various venues, including the Bertha Schaefer Gallery, New York, the Art Institute of Chicago and Galerie La Hune in Paris. Upon her return to Japan she transformed her style into a purely abstract and rhythmic form whilst retaining the core materials used in calligraphy - ink, brush and paper.