At the time, the definition of someone who could enter the modern legal profession in Japan was "A male Japanese national" who must be at least twenty years old.

Kume was one of the first three women, including Masako Nakata and Yoshiko Mibuchi, to pass the exam in 1938.

She was a founding member of the Japan Women's Bar Association which began in 1950.

In 1960 Kume was interviewed by Beate Sirota Gordon as part of her research work at Columbia University and her memories are captured in The Reminiscences of Ai Kume: Japanese Occupation.

Kume was the first woman to be recommended for appointment to the Supreme Court by the Bar association in 1976, but she died unexpectedly on July 14 of that year.