He was a public official in the Fuse City government from 1964 to 1966, and directed the merger to form Higashi-Osaka in 1966. In 1967, he was elected to the House of Representatives, representing the 4th District of Osaka.
Shiokawa served as Parliamentary Vice Minister of International Trade and Industry from 1972 to 1973, Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary from 1976 to 1977, Commerce and Industry Committee Chairman from 1979 to 1980, Minister of Transport from 1980 to 1981 (under Prime Minister Zenko Suzuki), Minister of Education from 1986 to 1987 (under PM Yasuhiro Nakasone), Chief Cabinet Secretary for three months in 1989 (under PM Sōsuke Uno), and Minister of Home Affairs from 1991 to 1992.
Although Shiokawa became Secretary-General of the LDP in 1995, he lost his seat in the 1996 general elections, and was not re-elected until 2000.
In 2001, Junichiro Koizumi tapped Shiokawa to serve as Minister of Finance.[1] He resigned in 2003 and decided not to seek re-election that year.[2][3]