Born 1950 in Tokyo, Akimasa Kawashima (川島章正) is a Japanese film editor. He has received numerous awards, including the 39th Japan Academy Film Prize for Excellent Editing for 125 Years Memory. Kawashima grew up watching American movies, and when he was in high school, he started watching European movies. At first, he wanted to be a producer, but after being told by his teacher, "You are good at editing," he chose editing because he knew that editing was 'the second directing'. In 1972, he joined the editing department of Nikkatsu Studio. He has been freelancing since 1995 .