Whakaotihia te rerenga e whai ake nei: I whakatairangahia a Shirakawa ki te rangatira i te tau 1903, ka hoki mai a Shirakawa ki te whakahau i te IJA 21st Infantry Regiment i te Pakanga o Russo-Japanese. I te wa o te pakanga, i whakawhitihia ia ki nga kaimahi o te IJA 13th Division. I whakawhiwhia ki tēnei wehenga te whakawhiwhinga motuhake o
te nohoanga o Sakhalin i mua i te mutunga o te Tiriti o Portsmouth, ka tae ki Sakhalin i te 7 o Hōngongoi 1905, e toru marama noa iho i muri i te hanganga, ka tiakina te moutere i te 1 o Akuhata 1905. I te mutunga o tana mahi angitu, i whakawhiwhia a Japan ki te tonga o Karafuto i te Tiriti o Portsmouth, tetahi o nga taonga whenua iti o Japan i te pakanga. Whai muri i te pakanga, i tukuna a Shirakawa ki te Tari Kaimahi o te Manatū o te Ope Taua mai i te Oketopa 1905. I whakatairangahia ia ki te koromatua i te tau 1907, koromatua i te tau 1909, me te rangatira o te IJA 34th Infantry Regiment.