Yūka Kageyama (Japanese: 影山 優佳, Hepburn: Kageyama Yūka; born May 8, 2001) is a Japanese actress and television personality. She gained widespread recognition for her football expertise and commentary, particularly during the 2022 FIFA World Cup, and has continued her football-related media work alongside her entertainment career, including coverage of the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
Kageyama began her career as a member of the girl group Hinatazaka46 (formerly Hiragana Keyakizaka46) from 2016 to 2023. She made her acting debut in the group's television drama Re:Mind (2017) and film debut in Kaguya-sama Final: Love Is War (2021). She took an extended hiatus from 2018 to 2020 for academic reasons, during which she won a bronze medal in the 2018 Japan Philosophy and Ethics Grand Prix. After resuming her entertainment activities in 2020, she began to establish herself in football media by writing a blog series covering all the teams competing in the J.League and appearing on multiple football talk shows, including a self-titled miniseries, as well as becoming a brand ambassador for the long-running FIFA football video game series. Her game analyses and multiple accurate predictions as a recurring commentator during the 2022 FIFA World Cup brought her widespread national recognition. Aside from football, she also frequently appeared on quiz shows and became the youngest contestant to win the Q-sama!! quiz show in May 2023. She left Hinatazaka46 in 2023 due to a persistent hearing disorder, before which she released her first photobook, titled Shiranai Koto Darake.
After departing from Hinatazaka46, Kageyama joined the Production Ogi agency and has since expanded her career as an actress and television personality, appearing in television dramas, films, stage productions, variety programs, and commercials. Her notable works include Hakobiya (2024), the first stage adaptation of Future Boy Conan (2024), Mr. Mikami's Classroom, Synanthrope, and Salary Man Kintaro (all 2025). She also released her first essay collection in 2026, titled Kage Made Aishite.
Career
2015–2018: Early career, acting debut
In 2015, Kageyama took part in the second AKB48 Group Draft Conference, a joint audition held by AKB48 and its Japan-based sister groups. She advanced to the final round, but was not selected to become a trainee.
On May 8, 2016, the same day as her 15th birthday, Kageyama passed the audition for Hiragana Keyakizaka46 and became a first generation member of the group. She was introduced to the public on May 11. Within the group, Kageyama was noted for her abilities in both academics and sports, which are often shown in her television appearances, in addition to her singing skills. Her fandom name is Kagesapo (カゲサポ), which is short for "Kageyama Supporters" and announced in May 2021.
In 2017, Kageyama made her acting debut in the Hiragana Keyakizaka46 drama Re:Mind, aired on TV Tokyo and Netflix. Real Sound praised her "impactful" performance as the hidden mastermind, her insane nature "flickering" as she calmly explains her plan during the reveal.
2018–2020: Hiatus
On June 1, 2018, Kageyama announced that she was going into hiatus to prepare for the University of Tokyo entrance examinations. During her hiatus, she won a bronze medal in the 2018 Japan Philosophy and Ethics Grand Prix. She later revealed that she did not take the university examinations in the end, due to health issues.
In March 2019, Hiragana Keyakizaka46 was rebranded into Hinatazaka46. Kageyama did not take part in Hinatazaka46's first four singles; her first participation in a Hinatazaka46 music release was for the 2020 album Hinatazaka. However, she did make surprise appearances in the final concert of the 2018 Hashiridasu Shunkan Tour and in the group's 2019 photobook, Tachikogi. She resumed entertainment activities on May 26, 2020, with a post on her official blog.
2020–2023: Football-related appearances, feature film debut, departure from Hinatazaka46
Kageyama has been an association football enthusiast since childhood and played regularly on a local boys' team before joining Hiragana Keyakizaka46. Her catchphrases include "The soccer-loving girl" and "Gegenpressing to your heart". She holds a Class 4 referee qualification and regularly wrote about the Japanese league on her blog in a series titled "Yūka Kageyama's WE LOVE J.League", which aimed to cover all 56 teams from all three league divisions. Her favorite teams include Sanfrecce Hiroshima, Borussia Dortmund, and Leeds United F.C.
Kageyama became a recurring guest in the TV Tokyo football talk show Foot×Brain and Atsuto Uchida's Football Time on DAZN, and was appointed Special Analyst for Foot×Brain in October thanks to her knowledge in football strategy. Former Japan national football team player Tsuyoshi Kitazawa named her the "number one football enthusiast in the idol world"; football manager and former national team player Keisuke Honda also noted her extensive knowledge and encouraged her to express her opinions "more freely". In December, Kageyama co-hosted her first self-titled football talk show miniseries on Hikari TV Channel with former Japan national team captain Yuji Nakazawa, which was titled Yuji Nakazawa and Yūka Kageyama's Talking Football and ran for three episodes.
Kageyama had her first voice acting role as Ayame Ebina in the animated adaptation of the football manga Farewell, My Dear Cramer (2021) on Tokyo MX, and also served as the production's "support manager". She made her first feature film appearance in Kaguya-sama Final: Love Is War (2021). During production, co-star Kanna Hashimoto noticed a screenshot circulating on social media from the home media release promotions of the Hiragana Oshi variety show, in which Kageyama expressed her admiration of Hashimoto; the two became friends, with Kageyama later describing Hashimoto as an "older sister" figure. Real Sound positively commented on her "funny expressions" in the film and that her intelligent image matched that of her character, Miko Iino.
Kageyama and fellow Hinatazaka46 members Mei Higashimura and Konoka Matsuda were appointed support ambassadors for DAZN's AFC Asian Cup Qualifications "Road to Qatar" campaign, which ran from August 2021 to March 2022. Kageyama also produced football educational video content for the campaign. Also in 2021, Kageyama was appointed the Japan Ambassador for the football simulation video game FIFA 22, after having served as an ambassador for the J Club FIFA 21 Festival the previous year, and co-hosted the 2021 J.League awards with comedian Hiroyuki Yabe and announcer Akihiko Nishioka. She went on to become a co-host for the pre-2022 FIFA World Cup talk show FIFA World Cup 64, co-produced by TV Asahi and Abema, and also co-hosted several live match broadcasts of the event itself, where she was noted for her game analyses and multiple accurate predictions, which earned her the moniker "Goddess of Victory". Her increased activity during that period made the hashtag "#KageyamaGoToSleep" (#影山寝ろ, #KageyamaNero) a trending topic on social media on multiple occasions.
Kageyama placed fourth on the top ten list of rising female talents of the first half of 2022 according to Talent Power Ranking, published in July and attributed to her increasing appearances on football and quiz shows. In January 2023, she placed second on an advertising industry polling of female talents predicted to make a breakthrough that year.
Aside from football, Kageyama was appointed the "fair character" (event ambassador) for the twentieth anniversary fair of book publisher Kobunsha's "Kobunsha New Books" (光文社新書, Kobunsha Shinshō) product line in October 2021. Fellow Hinatazaka46 member Manamo Miyata would also participate in the "Kobunsha Classics" fifteenth anniversary fair. As a philomath, she revealed in 2022 that she had obtained qualifications in several fields, including World Heritage Sites, news and current affairs, real estate…