Yanagisawa was born in Huntington Beach, California and doubled a number of stars, including Demi Moore, Halle Berry, Lucy Liu, Kelly Hu, Tia Carrere, Julianna Margulies, Alyson Hannigan, Maggie Q, and Vanessa Williams (2002-2003 in Boomtown, with Neal McDonough). She is a martial arts expert, holds several titles, and is the niece of Harry Ishisaka, who was a martial arts trainer for several stars such as Steven Segal. In 1995 she has opened a karate school in La Costa, California. Yanagisawa also worked as a flight attendant for several years.