[4] Oyamada's experience with switching jobs and working in a large company manufacturing cars acted as inspiration for her novella Kōjō (Factory).

[5] During the creation of one of her other works, Ana (Hole), Oyamada herself had moved to the country side which is reflective of the main character of the novella.

In both Kōjō and Ana, Oyamada "... came to a dead end, unable to find her way forward," until she was struck with an idea for each through either a trick of the eye or through a dream, allowing her to finish the novellas.

[9] One of the Akutagawa Prize judges, author Hiromi Kawakami, commended Oyamada's ability to write about "fantasy in a reality setting.

[16][4] In his review of Granta's special issue on Japanese literature, James Hadfield of The Japan Times compared Oyamada's writing to that of Yōko Ogawa and said that her work "suggests good things to come from this promising young writer.