Sayuri Oyamada

Sayuri Oyamada was born in Niigata, Japan. While in junior college, she was scouted to appear in TV commercials.^[2] Oyamada made her acting debut in 2000, acting for director Junko Wada in Body Drop Asphalt. Funded by Aichi Arts Centre for non-mainstream work and guest-starring Takuji Suzuki, it debuted at the International Film Festival Rotterdam in 2001.^[3] It then accrued acclaim in Japan and globally. In 2010, Oyamada ventured to New York to expand her international career having been selected by the Japanese Ministry of Culture to represent the Japanese entertainment community in an elite cultural exchange program. She has spent her time between Tokyo, Los Angeles, and New York and is currently based in New York and Tokyo.

Oyamada's professional work includes critically acclaimed films produced in Japan and internationally, including leads in Bright Future (2003), Seventh Anniversary (2003),^[2] Miracle Banana (2005) (Haiti), Suki Da (2006), Watashi Dasuwa (2009), Insect Detective Yoshimi Yoshida (2010). In 2016, Oyamada played the leading role of Aya in While the Women Are Sleeping (Onna ga Nemurutoki 女が眠る時)^[4][5] directed by Wayne Wang. An adaptation of Javier Marias’s semi-erotic Spanish short story, it also stars Takeshi Kitano, Hidetoshi Nishijima, and Shiori Kutsuna.^[4] Financed by Dentsu and Toei Company, it premiered at the 66th Annual Berlin International Film Festival.^[6]

Oyamada's next trilogy of theatrical projects includes leading roles in Bashira^[2] directed by Academy Award winner Nickson Fong,^[7] due out November 2020,^[2] a short directed by Govind Rae, and a supporting role in the Japanese feature, Lady in White directed by Yuki Otsuka. The latter two were due for release in 2019.

Oyamada's Japan-based commercial work includes Bridgestones "Good Winter" television campaign and work for brands such as Docomo, Sony, Lion and others. She has been featured in commercials in the United States for such brands as Cadillac, Shiseido feat. Lady Gaga, Apple Watch, IBM ThinkPad, Audible (Amazon), and Keurig. She also runs an onigiri restaurant in Manhattan.^[8]

The pandemic hit independent and low-budget film industries in New York hard. While bigger budgets could film in other locations, those with lower budgets could not afford to shoot for safety reasons as they were unable to secure locations or have working schedules. Oyamada had a friend who worked in the grocery store daily for whom she made onigiri, and they loved it.^[2] With ongoing demand, she started her own company in the fall of 2020, experimenting with flavors and teaching staff.^[7][9]