The current corporation was created on May 21, 1987, by a merger with the dormant company Nihon Densen Kōgyō Kabushiki-gaisha (日本電線工業株式会社) "Japan Electrical Wiring Industries", founded in 1978, via a change in the face value of the stock, and a change in the company name (to Kabushiki-gaisha Yamada Denki).

Yamada Denki is listed in the first division of the Tokyo Stock Exchange, and the location of its head office is 1-1 Sakae-cho, Takasaki, Gunma.

[2][3] In February 2005, the company achieved sales figures of 1 trillion yen, making it the first specialist retailer in Japan to do so.

There is a strong rivalry between Yamada Denki and Kojima, another major retailer of consumer electronics, with its head office in the neighboring prefecture of Tochigi, in Utsunomiya.

Groups including Shoten Kumiai (日本書店商業組合連合会, Nihon Shoten Shōgyō Kumiai Rengōkai), a trade union composed of booksellers from across Japan, have expressed the opinion that issuing points for books, and selling books using points, is an infringement of the resale price maintenance system, and requested that the redemption rate of the points (currently 3%) be lowered.

In August 2005, the company bought land in front of the east exit of Takasaki Station through Shimizu Corporation.

[4] The building was left vacant until April 2022, when sporting goods chain Alpen Tokyo turned it into its flagship store.

[5][6] The company has used actor Masanobu Takashima and soccer player Shunsuke Nakamura for publicity and television commercials.