In December 2014, Kawashima was named in Japan's squad for the Asian Cup in Australia. Kawashima started the tournament well keeping three clean sheets in the group stage matches that saw them through to the quarter–finals. However, in a match against UAE on 23 January 2015, he conceded a goal from Ali Mabkhout before Japan equalised and the match was played throughout 120 minutes; ultimately, they were eliminated after losing in penalty–shootout. Later in June, he kept two clean sheets in a row on 11 and 16 June 2015 against Iraq and Singapore.