Born in Kojima, Ikayama Prefecture to a family that had worked in ceramics for generations, Kobashi began making scupture at the age of sixteen. Educated at the Kyoto Technical University, he is known for his work in painting, sculpture, printmaking, and calligraphy (see lot 39). His first one-man shows outside of Japan were held at the Robert Isaacson Gallery in New York in 1959 and 1960. In 1978 he exhibited with the Theo Portnoy Gallery in Manhattan and he has shown his work in New York at the Allan Stone Gallery in 1961, 1965, and 1985.

Nelson Rockefeller was one of the first influential American collectors to recognize Kobashi's work. At the urging of Lincoln Kirstein of the New York City Ballet, Kobashi came to the United States where he created two major works for the New York State Theater's Stravinsky Festival. He also received a commission for the twelve-foot terra cotta figure at the Asia House Garden in New York, and he designed the sets for an Edward Villella CBS "Harlequin" performance, as well as creating a thirty-foot steel sculpture for the city of Kurashiki.