Sonoda Ayumi

Sonoda Ayumi (born Iwadate Yûko) was a Japanese actress active for a brief period during the Golden Age of Toho.

Sonoda joined Toho Studios in 1955 and made her feature film debut in Love Never Fails. During her remarkably short career, she frequently appeared as a supporting player in various salaryman comedies for the studio, including entries in the long-running Shachô ("Company President") film series.

Her singular, exclusive leading role was starring as the inquisitive journalist Shinjô Yuriko in Honda Ishirô's giant monster picture Varan the Unbelievable (1958). That same year she also appeared as an exotic nightclub dancer in scandalously revealing attire in another Honda thriller, The H-Man.

She unexpectedly fully retired from acting acting in 1963. After her retirement from the screen, she remained tangentially involved in the entertainment industry, taking up an administrative position in the Min-On Production company.