[6] In 1947, the family returned to a Japan devastated by World War II.

In 1949, after his father's death when he was four, Yamamoto moved to his mother's hometown of Yokohama.

[citation needed] Under the many awards Riken Yamamoto has won, the most recent achieved by him are: The Japan Institute of Architects Award for the Yokosuka Museum of Art (2010) Building Contractors Society Prize for the Namics Techno Core (2010), Building Contractors Society Prize for the Yokosuka Museum of Art (2008) or the 25th Fukushima Architecture Culture Award, highest award for the Fukushima ecoms Pavilion, SUS Fukushima Factory (2007).

On the occasion, architect and Jury Chair Alejandro Aravena stated about Yamamoto's work that "one of the things we need most in the future of cities is to create conditions through architecture that multiply the opportunities for people to come together and interact.

By carefully blurring the boundary between public and private, Yamamoto contributes positively beyond the brief to enable community.