Biography
Shin'ya Kawai (also credited as Shinya Kawai or 河井信哉) is a Japanese film producer. Born on 10 December 1958 in Osaka Prefecture and raised in Nara, he graduated from Keio University Faculty of Law. He joined Fuji Television in 1981 and began producing films in 1987, later founding the Cine Switch Ginza cinema that year.
Kawai produced Shunji Iwai’s Love Letter (1995) and Swallowtail Butterfly (1996), as well as the horror hit Ring (1998) and its sequel Spiral (1998). He served as producer on Edward Yang’s Yi Yi (2000), which won the Best Director prize at Cannes. Other credits include 2LDK (2003), Aragami (2003) and executive producer roles on Love Exposure (2008). He has received awards including the Fujimoto Prize special award and the Japan Film and Television Producers Association Producer Award.
Kawai retired from Fuji TV in 2019 and has held positions including visiting professor at Musashino Art University. He has been involved in international co-productions and film festival roles.
