 Sata was awarded the Noma Prize in 1972 for her book "Juei" (The Shade of Trees), which deals with the relationships between Chinese and Japanese people in Nagasaki after the dropping of the atomic bomb.In 1973, she was offered the Geijutuin Onshisho (Imperial Art Academy Prize) for her life's work, but she refused the award as she regarded it as a nationalist congratulation prize.She accepted the Kawabata Prize for short stories in 1977.