Hayato Kakizawa is a Japanese actor and voice performer born on October 12, 1987, in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. He is affiliated with the talent agency HORIPRO. He initially aspired to become a professional soccer player during his youth, attending Tokyo Metropolitan Komaba High School on a sports recommendation, before being inspired to pursue acting after seeing a performance of The Lion King by the Shiki Theatre Company. He joined the Shiki Theatre Company`s training school in 2007, which had a competitive acceptance rate, and made his stage debut the same year. After leaving the company at the end of 2009, he joined his current agency in 2011.

Primarily recognized as a stage actor, Kakizawa has portrayed leading roles in numerous major theatrical productions. His stage work includes starring as Light Yagami in Death Note: The Musical, a role he has performed multiple times including in 2015 and 2017, as well as in a 2017 production in Taiwan. He has also played the title role in Frankenstein, Monty in A Gentleman`s Guide to Love and Murder, and Richard in the thriller Thrill Me. Early in his career with the Shiki Theatre Company, he starred as Simba in The Lion King and as Leo in The Cat Who Saved the World.

In film and television, Kakizawa has appeared in a variety of live-action dramas and movies. His television credits include roles in the taiga drama Kamakura-dono no 13-nin, the series Yell, and Light of My Lion. On the big screen, he has appeared in the live-action film Kaiji 2: The Ultimate Gambler and the comedy film The Cat in Their Arms.

While his career largely centers on stage and screen acting, he has also taken on a limited number of voice acting roles in animated productions. He provides the voice for Cielo in the 2025 anime film The Obsessed, a character featured among the film`s supporting cast. He also contributed voice work to the 2021 animated project Gyoro Goes to the Theatre.