While in Taiwan, the young Yutaka fell ill with malaria and was sent to the estate of his paternal grandfather, a wealthy landowner in Saitama Prefecture, to convalesce and attend school.

At that time, he got a job as ship's clerk and assistant purser on the freighter London Maru, carrying a cargo of raw silk to Victoria, British Columbia and Vancouver, as well as 20 passengers to Seattle.

In 1939, during World War II, he was ordered to report to a Nissan plant in the Japanese puppet state of Manchukuo, but managed to obtain a transfer back to Japan in 1941.

A 1997 advertisement campaign for the then-introduced Nissan Frontier featured actor Dale Ishimoto portraying Katayama with a Jack Russell Terrier, stating "Dogs Love Trucks!"

Katayama died at a hospital in Tokyo[3] February 2015 and was survived by his wife, Masako, two sons and two daughters, 11 grandchildren and 18 great-grandchildren.