Yamada was born in Osaka, but due to his father's job as an engineer for the South Manchuria Railway, he was brought up in Dalian, China, from the age of two.

[citation needed] Following the end of World War II, he returned to Japan and subsequently lived in Yamagata Prefecture.

After receiving his degree from Tokyo University in 1954, he entered Shochiku and worked under Yoshitaro Nomura as a scriptwriter and as an assistant director.

[2] Known in Japan under the title Otoko wa Tsurai yo, his Tora-san series features traveling merchant Torajirō, who is always unlucky in love.

Over a period of about 25 years, 48 Tora-san films were made, all of them starring Atsumi, and the majority written and directed by Yamada.