Born in Japan, Yamamoto would move with her family to London in 1991, before eventually returning to live in Tokyo in 1994 at the age of 8.
[1][2] Yamamoto would study international relations at the International Christian University in Tokyo, where she would obtain her Bachelor of Arts,[2] before moving to New York City to study method acting at the Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute.
[4] She returned to Tokyo following this, and began working in journalism, writing articles for The Daily Beast alongside American journalist Jake Adelstein.
[5][3] Adelstein's book Tokyo Vice was being adapted into a television series for HBO Max, which would see Yamamoto recruited to work on the show's writing staff.
[7] In March 2024, she was cast to star opposite Brendan Fraser in the film Rental Family.