After a bachelor's degree from Kyoto University in 1983, and a master's degree in 1987 from the University of Tokyo, she traveled to France for continued study at the School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences, and received a diplôme d'études approfondies in 1991.
[1] Kawashima's writings in the history of science include works in Japanese, French, and English.
[1] She is the author of a book in French, Émilie du Châtelet et Marie-Anne Lavoisier, Science et genre au XVIII siècle (Paris: Honoré Champion, 2013),[2] and of two books in Japanese.
[1] Her home page links several short manga outlining the lives and works of women in science.
[3] Kawashima was the 2006 recipient of the Women’s History 'Aoyama Nao' Award [ja] of the Institute for Research on Women and Gender of Tokyo Woman's Christian University, given for the 2005 Japanese edition of her book on Émilie du Châtelet and Marie-Anne Paulze Lavoisier.