Born in Japan, Yumi is an established Butoh dancer, choreographer and creator of Butoh Cabaret works. After touring with the seminal Japanese Butoh company DaiRakudakan, Yumi moved to Melbourne in 1993. She has been creating her distinctive style of works for 30 years and her creations are renowned for provoking visceral emotions and engaging with cultural identities with a sense of humor. Yumi’s works have been seen in numerous festivals in dance, theatre and film productions throughout Australia, Japan, Europe, New Zealand, South East Asia and South America and have received several Australian Green Room awards. Her major production credits include DasSHOKU Butoh cabaret series (1999-2014), EnTrance(2009-2012) and PopUp Tearoom series(2015-) and premiered her new solo work Buried TeaBowl-OKUNI.

As an independent artist, she has collaborated with various Australian leading companies from diverse cultures and genres such as Finucane and Smith, BighART, Marrugeku, Weave Movement Theatre, Back to Back Theatre and The Rabble. As a choreographer, Yumi has worked with many socially engaged theatre projects in Australia, including communities of First Nations, refugees and culturally diverse people and also inclusive companies.She is a recipient of the fellowship from Australian Council(2015-16) and a winner of the Green Room Geoffrey Milne Memorial Award (2017).