Kawashima was born in
Mutsu,
Shimokita District,
Aomori Prefecture. After graduating from
Meiji University's Department of Literature, he entered the
Shōchiku studios and served as an assistant director under
Minoru Shibuya,
Yasujirō Shimazu,
Hiroshi Shimizu and others. In 1944, he directed his first film,
The Man Who Has Returned. After the war, Kawashima made many comedies at Shōchiku, but it was not before his move to
Nikkatsu in 1955 that his work received critical acclaim. At Nikkatsu, he directed such notable works as
Burden of Love (1955),
Suzaki Paradise: Red Light District (1956, Kawashima's own personal favourite of his films), and
Sun in the Last Days of the Shogunate (1957). In his remaining years, Kawashima worked at multiple studios—
Daiei, Tokyo Eiga, and
Toho—continuing to create satirical works like
Temptation on Glamour Island (1959),
Room for Let (1959), and
The Graceful Brute (1962), as well as literary adaptations like ''A Geisha's Diary
(1961) and The Temple of Wild Geese'' (1962). Kawashima suffered from
polio and was known as an excessive drinker. He died in 1963 at the age of 45, having completed 50 films during a career which spanned only 19 years. ==Legacy==