After graduating from junior high school, he dropped out and began working at a newspaper store.

[2] On November 17, 2005, Yamaji raped and murdered a 27-year-old woman named Asuka Uehara and her 19-year-old sister, Chihiro, with a knife, in Naniwa, Osaka.

While in custody, he stated to the Osaka police, "I could not forget the feeling when I killed my mother, and wanted to see human blood.

[2] His defense launched an appeal, but according to his lawyers he retracted it since he was reluctant to pursue leniency.

[4] He was executed at the Osaka Detention House alongside Japanese serial killer Hiroshi Maeue on July 28, 2009.