Vice President, Japanese Player Relations
Yayoi Sato enters her 16th season with the Dodgers—her third tenure—and first as Vice President, Japanese Player Relations. She operates across both the baseball and business sides, with a primary focus on Japanese-related initiatives. Her core responsibilities include supporting the entire Japanese player ecosystem while strategically contributing to Global Partnerships. She also assists with player recruitment, cultivates and maintains relationships across the Japanese baseball and business communities, and serves as a trusted resource on all Japanese-related matters.
Sato joined the Dodgers’ Asian Operations in 2003 for one season and returned in 2008 following the signing of Hiroki Kuroda, managing administrative efforts over Asian scouting, player development, and player support. She later expanded into the business side by launching the Hello Kitty promotion, then transitioned to Global Partnerships, where she remained through the 2019 season. She returned in 2024 as Director, Asia-Pacific Operations following the signings of Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto, leveraging her expertise to support the organization’s rapidly expanding Japanese operations.
Outside of her time with the Dodgers, her diverse career includes roles in sports and entertainment projects and ventures, including the opening construction of Tokyo DisneySea and Hong Kong Disneyland; Pacific League Marketing, a joint venture of NPB’s Pacific League teams; the Council for Sports Ecosystem Promotion in Japan; and the 2021 Japanese publication An Introduction to Sports Business Law in the Age of Digital Transformation.
Born and raised in Nagoya, Japan, Sato is a graduate of Keio University. She and her husband, Jasen, live in Los Angeles.