Kawashima was born in
Nagoya City,
Aichi Prefecture,
Japan. He grew up listening to artists such as
George Gershwin,
Ryuichi Sakamoto, and
Haruomi Hosono. He later moved to
Tokyo and got interested in
techno culture. During his time at
Kunitachi College of Music he began producing
techno music and was introduced to
Yuzo Koshiro, who was looking for staff at his company,
Ancient. He would go on to join his company in 1992, where he composed for
Shinobi II: The Silent Fury and the
Game Gear and
Master System versions of
Batman Returns, with Koshiro assisting him on both projects. The two would work together again for
Streets of Rage 2 and
Streets of Rage 3, with him composing approximately half of the latter's soundtrack. During this time they would also frequently go to nightclubs together for musical inspiration. In addition to his work on video games, Kawashima has also composed for other productions, including songs for artists, commercials and anime. He currently works as a lecturer in the computer music department at Kuntachi College of Music. In 2010, he used the pen name Kashii while working as a commissioned composer for the music label
D-topia Entertainment, as part of the duo Kylie & Kashii. He would also compose for the
Brandon Sheffield-designed game
Oh, Deer!, which released in 2015. He also returned to compose for
Streets of Rage 4 (2020) along with Koshiro and several others. Kawashima has also released solo albums of instrumental electronic music, including
Prepared Wave (2019) and
Acrobatizm (2023). ==Works==