[8] Yamazaki was first introduced to film by the "Umbrella Program" as a child; in 2023 he reflected that Ishirō Honda's Matango (1963) and King Kong vs. Godzilla (1962) may have been among the first movies he ever saw.

[13] Following his graduation from Asagaya College of Art and Design [ja] in 1986, he officially became an employee at Shimamura's animation and special effects studio Shirogumi in Chōfu, Tokyo.

Thus, Robot president Shūji Abe deemed NUE too expensive and requested that Yamazaki scrap it and attempt to make his directorial debut with a smaller scale.

[13] Shortly after abandoning NUE, Yamazaki converted the idea for his debut feature film, Juvenile (2000), which he directed, wrote, and headed the visual effects for.

[13][15] However, Abe decided to increase the film's budget to ¥450 million in order to allow Yamazaki to make it a "proper movie for the summer vacation lineup".

[17] His next film, the science fiction actioner Returner (2002), follows the story of Milly, a young woman living in a war-torn future, who is recruited by a mysterious time traveler named Miyamoto.

[19] Western critics accused Yamazaki of plagiarising from popular American science fiction films such as Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977), E.T.

Set in Tokyo during postwar Japan, this film tells the "heartwarming" story of the residents living at Third Street: Ryunosuke, a writer from the countryside; Norifumi, an auto mechanic; and sake bar owner Hiromi.

Always: Sunset on Third Street – starring Hidetaka Yoshioka, Shinichi Tsutsumi, Koyuki, Maki Horikita, and Kenta Suga – was released to overwhelmingly positive reviews and grossed ¥3.23 billion, ranking fifteenth at the Japanese box office.

[25] In 2008, Yamazaki turned to assisting his fellow Asagaya College of Art and Design [ja] graduate and future wife,[26] Shimako Satō, with the visual effects and screenplay for her action film, K-20: Legend of the Mask.

Based on a novel by Sō Kitamura, K-20 is set in an alternate reality version of Japan during the 1940s and follows the mysterious masked antihero known as "K-20" who robs the rich and powerful, leaving behind a trail of dismay.

[29] Yamazaki was inspired to create Ballad after visiting the filming location of The Last Samurai (2003) and contemplating "Maybe Japan could make a historical drama centered around battles?".

[30] Featuring a screenplay by his partner Shimako Satō,[31] it is an adaptation of famed manga artist Leiji Matsumoto's 1974 anime series of the same name.

[36] The first animated to be co-directed by Yamazaki and Ryūichi Yagi [ja], Friends: Naki on Monster Island, was released in Japanese theaters in December 2011.

[42] On December 27, 2023, Yamazaki began directing a kaiju web film in Ashikaga, Tochigi for a major food corporation, scheduled for a March 2024 release with a runtime of approximately one minute.