Kawada's first film role was in Shima no onna (Island Woman, 1920), directed by Henry Kotani for the Shochiku studio; her last was in Kane no naru oka - Dai sanhen: Kuro no maki (1949). She often played mothers, including in Akeyuku Sora (The Dawning Sky, 1929), directed by Torajirō Saitō, in which she played a poor widowed mother separated from her only child; they reunite years later, after the mother finds a new life in churchwork. She initially retired from screen acting in 1935, after her starring role in Haha no ai (Mother's Love); but she had roles in two films after World War II.
