[2] She joined the University of Tokyo as a Japan Society for the Promotion of Science fellow in 1982.

[3][4][5] Her group use STM to monitor molecules and atoms on top of surfaces.

[6] She uses this to understand the chemical and physical phenomena of nanowires, nanodots and biomolecules.

[9][10][11][12] Kawai continued to be supported by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, investigating nanoscale electron transport through molecular layers.

[2] Kawai joined the Institute of Molecular Science as Director General in 2016.