Yumi Shirakura is a Japanese manga artist and novelist known for her work in the late 1980s. She was born on March 8, 1965, in Chiba Prefecture and is a graduate of Musashino Women's University, where she studied Japanese literature in the Faculty of Literature. She is married to the novelist Eiji Otsuka.

Shirakura is recognized primarily as the original creator of the manga Yume kara, Samenai. This work was adapted into a single-episode original video animation (OVA) of the same name, which was released in 1987. The OVA holds historical significance as the first original animation production by the renowned studio SHAFT. The story, a drama about a student drawn to a classmate surrounded by rumors, was based directly on Shirakura's original manga. In addition to her work as a creator, she contributed lyrics for the song Kataomoi no Ningyo: Koyuki no Theme, which was featured in the Yume kara, Samenai OVA.

Her career is characterized by her dual role as both a writer of manga and prose, establishing her as a creator of original narratives that have been adapted into other media. Her credited work on the Yume kara, Samenai adaptation places her among the creators whose stories contributed to the foundation of SHAFT's animation production history.