He graduated from the 10th class of the Imperial Japanese Army Academy in 1898 (where one of his classmates was Sadao Araki, and graduated with honors from the 20th class of the Army Staff College in 1908.

After serving in the strategy and planning department and as Chief of Personnel Bureau within the Imperial Japanese Army General Staff, Kawashima was assigned command of the 1st Guards Infantry Brigade.

After being appointed deputy commander of the Inspectorate General of Military Training in 1932, he served as commander of the Chosen Army in Korea from 1932–1934 and as a member of the Supreme War Council after his promotion to full general in 1934.

[1] Kawashima became Army Minister in 1935,[2] but was forced into retirement due to implications of his involvement with the attempted coup plotters of the February 26th Incident of 1936.

[3] Kawashima died shortly after the end of World War II on 8 September 1945.