He grew up in Loomis, a small fruit-growing town in Placer County, California, where his Issei parents ran a fish market.
He also was employed at the San Francisco Public Library as a reference librarian in literature, Japanese language materials, science and government documents, and as a branch manager.
At the Western Addition Branch Library, he started what became the largest collection of Japanese language books on the West Coast.
Kashiwagi appeared in several films, including Black Rain, directed by Ridley Scott, and Hito Hata: Raise the Banner produced by Visual Communications.
[5] He resided in San Francisco, California, with his wife and had three grown sons, including playwright Soji Kashiwagi, leader of the Japanese American theatre troupe, the Grateful Crane Ensemble.