After Kadokawa and Dwango merged in 2014 to form Kadokawa Dwango, Kawakami served chairman of Kadokawa Dwango (Dwango and Kadokawa are each subsidiary companies of Kadokawa Dwango).
Kawakami served the president of Dwango, before Kadokawa and Dwango began efforts to merge the two companies in 2011.
Kawakami then switched positions with then-President Tatsuo Satō to become president of Kadokawa Dwango in June 2015 (a position he still holds).
Dwango is the corporate parent of the game companies Spike Chunsoft and MAGES., as well as of Niwango, the company that runs the Niconico video-sharing site.