Yumi Kimura

Youmi Kimura, born as 木村弓 in Osaka Prefecture, Japan, is a Japanese singer and lyre performer known for her contributions to classical, pop, and stage & screen music. She attended Kobe College before studying the piano at California State University, Fresno. Returning to Japan, she began performing as a vocalist with lyre accompaniment in 1988. Kimura gained prominence through her work on Studio Ghibli films. Inspired by Hayao Miyazaki's films, she recorded "Always With Me", which was ultimately used as the closing theme of Spirited Away (2001). She wrote "Promise of the World" for another Miyazaki film, Howl's Moving Castle (2004). Kimura received notable accolades for her work, including placing number 43 on the 2001 annual singles chart in Japan with "Always With Me", which had an estimated 404,000 CD sales. Alongside Joe Hisaishi, she won the Music Award at the Fifty-sixth Mainichi Film Awards for Spirited Away and received a Special Award from the Association at the Twenty-fifth Japan Academy Film Prizes. In 2005, they were presented with the Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Music for their work on Howl's Moving Castle. Her albums include 銀のしずく, released on April 24, 2002, and 流星 and 翼 ( 2003 and 2006, respectively).