Sayori Ochiai is a Japanese manga artist and the original creator behind the anime and manga series Gingitsune. Ochiai made a professional debut in 2008 with a one-shot version of Gingitsune, published in the March issue of Shueisha's seinen manga magazine Ultra Jump. The positive reception to this one-shot led to a second one-shot in June of the same year, followed by a full serialization that began in June 2009. The series ran in Ultra Jump until October 2022, concluding after a fourteen-year publication history. The collected chapters of Gingitsune were compiled into eighteen tankobon volumes by Shueisha.

Gingitsune is Ochiai's most recognized work and the primary basis for their reputation as an anime and manga creator. The story is a supernatural slice-of-life narrative following Makoto Saeki, the daughter of a shrine priest who possesses the ability to see the shrine's fox messenger, Gintarou. The manga was adapted into a twelve-episode anime television series by the studio Diomedéa, which aired in Japan from October to December 2013. Prior to the anime, a sound novel based on the manga was released by Pony Canyon in 2010.

Beyond Gingitsune, Ochiai created another serialized manga titled Hoiku no Osama, which was published in Kodansha's Morning magazine from 2015 to 2016 and compiled into six volumes. Ochiai also provided illustrations for the light novel 5 Minutes 4 Ever, published under Shueisha's JUMP j BOOKS imprint in 2014.

Information about Ochiai's personal background is limited, as the creator has not publicly disclosed their gender or precise date of birth. Ochiai has stated in interviews a lifelong passion for drawing, beginning to create manga in notebooks during elementary school. The artist has cited Akira Toriyama's Dragon Ball as a significant early influence and the primary inspiration for pursuing a career in manga, while also acknowledging the impact of Studio Ghibli's works on their art style and narrative approach. Ochiai's professional work is categorized within the seinen demographic, targeting young adult and adult male readers. The consistent themes across Ochiai's works focus on the gentle intersection of the everyday world with spiritual or supernatural elements, placing emphasis on character-driven stories and the warmth of human and spiritual connections. Ochiai holds significance in the industry as the author of a long-running serialization that successfully transitioned into an anime adaptation, contributing to the supernatural slice-of-life genre within seinen manga.