Kanako Yanagihara, also known by the stage name Kanako Yanagihara, is a Japanese female voice actress affiliated with the talent agency Mausu Promotion. She was born in Niigata Prefecture on December 5, 1996.

Yanagihara's path to becoming a voice actor was inspired during her second year of high school after watching anime and realizing that male characters were often portrayed by female voice actors. Following this realization, she pursued formal training, graduating from Tokyo Broadcasting College in 2017. That same year, she enrolled in the Mausu Promotion附属俳優養成所 (Mausu Promotion affiliated actor training school) as a 32nd-term student.

While still a trainee, she began gaining professional experience. From May 2017, she co-hosted the radio program "Anime Tanteidan 3" (Anime Detective Corps 3) with fellow trainees until the program concluded in March 2019. A significant early opportunity came in February 2018 when she was cast as Hirose Kanako, the protagonist in the DMM GAMES cross-media project "Badminton Girls." This led to her forming the voice actor unit "Badminton Girls" with four other cast members.

In March 2019, she was a surprise guest at the SEGA FES 2019 event, where it was announced she would voice the meerkat character in the game "Kemono Friends 3." For this role, she formed another voice actor unit, "Hanamaru Animal," initially with Izumi Fuka and later including Fushimi Haruka. Yanagihara officially became a full member of Mausu Promotion on April 1, 2019, after completing her two-year training period.

It is noteworthy that she shares her name with a well-known Japanese comedian and actress. To distinguish herself in the entertainment industry, she changed her professional stage name from the original Kanji spelling (柳原可奈子) to the hiragana spelling (柳原かなこ) just before her official agency debut on March 30, 2019. Her agency profile lists her distinctive skills as kendo and pudding tasting, and she has described her own personality as that of a "mischievous child".

Yanagihara has built a diverse portfolio of roles in anime, games, and films. Among her notable anime television roles is Lytt in the 2022 series In the Land of Leadale. She also voiced Hōchō Masamune in the television anime adaptation of Tenka Hyakken ~Welcome to Meiji Hall!~. Her work extends to film, with a role as Micchan in the 2014 animated feature Giovanni's Island. Additionally, she voiced the character Hiyariko in the 2008 theatrical release Soreike! Anpanman: Hiya Hiya Hiyariko to Bafu Bafu Baikinman. Her other voice roles in anime include characters in series such as The Great Cleric and The Yuzuki Family's Four Sons.