Born in Tokyo, Yamamoto attended Keio University, where he helped form a film appreciation society.

[1] He worked as an actor on the stage, joined Nikkatsu as an assistant director, and finally made his directorial debut in 1924 at Tōa Kinema.

[1] After working at Nikkatsu again, he was lured to Photo Chemical Laboratories (P. C. L.) in 1934, where he first made a name filming the comedies of Kenichi Enomoto.

[2] When P. C. L. became the Toho company, Yamamoto helmed realist dramas such as Tsuzurikata kyōshitsu and Uma (starring Hideko Takamine), and war films such as Hawai Mare oki kaisen.

At this time, a large number of Toho actors, after a prolonged strike, had formed a separate company, Shintoho.