In May 2013, Kawashima was called up by the national side for the 2013 Confederations Cup squad. He won his 48th cap for his country in a 2–1 loss against Mexico on 22 June 2013, as he went on to feature all three matches, all of them resulted in losses while Japan was eliminated from the tournament. Despite the defeat, Kawashima's performance was praised by Brazilian sports newspaper "Reims".