After writing for the fanzines La Mancha and Shin-Shicho (新思潮: "New Thought"),[6] she was recommended by Masao Yamakawa, an established critic at the time, to Mita Bungaku, for which she wrote Enrai No Kyaku Tachi (遠来の客たち: "Visitors from Afar"), one of the shortlisted stories for the Akutagawa Prize in 1954.

In the history of Japanese literature, Sono belongs to the category of "the Third Generation" together with Shūsaku Endō, Shōtarō Yasuoka, Junnosuke Yoshiyuki, Nobuo Kojima, Junzo Shono, Keitaro Kondo, Hiroyuki Agawa, Shumon Miura, Tan Onuma, and Toshio Shimao.

After the death of Ryoichi Sasakawa, one of the biggest rightist leaders, Sono took over his position as the head of the Nippon Foundation, whose funds come from 3 percent of the profits of the boat races all over Japan.

As the chairperson, she had focused on welfare and assistance of undeveloped countries, until 30 June 2005, when her term of office finally expired after nine and a half years.

[1][9] Sono drew criticism for a column she wrote in the Japanese far-right Sankei Shimbun newspaper in February 2015, in which she held South Africa's apartheid as an example of how Japan should handle immigration.