Yūmi Kawai

is a Japanese actress.

Career In 2019, Kawai made her acting debut in the short film Yodominaku, Yamanai. She continued her success by winning Best Supporting Actress at the 44th Yokohama Film Festival for her roles in various other films, including Plan 75, which earned her a nomination of Best Supporting Actress at the 16th Asian Film Awards.

She has also been active in television drama acting, with roles in Extremely Inappropriate! and The Child Of God Murmurs earning her two acting awards in 2024. In particular, audience of Extremely Inappropriate! (where Kawai plays a high-school student in the 1980s) noticed her resemblance to Momoe Yamaguchi when in-character, and proceeded to name Kawai "Momoe-chan from the Reiwa era". This TV series had a significant impact, and after its broadcast ended, she was cast in commercials for well-known companies such as Shiseido, Uniqlo, and Suntory. According to Oricon's survey, she ranked as the No. 1 breakout actress of the first half of 2024. Kawai was chosen as one of the 15 individuals (or groups) for "This Year's Face" by Model Press, and 2024 became a breakthrough year for her.

In March 2026, she served as the ambassador for the 33rd French Film Festival in Japan (Festival du film français au Japon), where she welcomed guests from France, including Sophie Marceau. In June of that year, she was announced as the lead actress in NHK's spring 2028 Asadora (morning drama) Honno Mokichi and attended a press conference alongside the series' writer, Kankuro Kudo.

Personal life Her hobbies are dancing, singing, drawing and playing basketball. When she was in the third grade, she started to attend dance studio with her younger sister. Although she went on hiatus in dancing during middle school, Kawai joined her high school dance club. As she continued dancing, she realized the joy of "expressing" and decided to become an actress.

Kawai is good friends with fellow actress Ai Mikami, as both of them attended Nihon University College of Art together.

She respects Mirai Moriyama as both an actor and a dancer.

Filmography

Film

Television drama

Japanese dub

Music video appearances

Awards and nominations