Yui was born in Fukuoka, Japan. She grew up in a single-parent family; her father left her mother when she was three. She stated that she had always been close to music, as she would remember the beats from music she heard on the radio, and could sing it. By the time she was in elementary school she thought she would like to become a singer. The Associated Press has reported that her full name is "Yui Yoshioka" but Yui and her record label have not confirmed this.
Self-described as shy and horrible at talking to others as a child, she would play outside by herself in mountains, rivers, by the sea and in rice paddies. In her third year, she was influenced by her mother to begin writing a journal of her feelings and tried to compose them into poems. By the time she was in high school, she began to write songs, and she thought of that as being managing to be able express herself little by little. While in high school, she worked part-time at a Chinese restaurant to help pay for tuition. With her workload, she thought she no longer had the time to realize her dreams of a music career. For example, between music, school and work, she only had one or two hours of sleep; she would eventually get ill. While in the hospital, she was overwhelmed with the desire to make music and finally decided that school and music could not coexist.
Soon after leaving the hospital, she got a chance to see her first live street performance. She expressed a desire to pursue a musical career to the band, Bianco Nero, at the end of the concert. The band advised Yui to join a private music school. Despite the social norm of finishing school in Japan and discouragement from her teachers, Yui did not hesitate to drop out of high school and began to study guitar and songwriting at a juku (cram school) in her hometown of Fukuoka. Aspiring to become a professional, she took to street performing at Fukuoka's Tenjin Station. These street performances helped Yui to overcome her shyness.
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