Born in Osaka in 1931. After graduating from faculty of law in University of Tokyo in 1954, he joined Shochiku as an assistant director. He made his film debut with “A Stranger Upstairs” in 1961. In 1969 he launched the successful “Tora-san” series, which became one of the world’s longest running series of 50 films. His other works include “Where Spring Comes Late” (1970), “The Yellow Handkerchief” (1977), “My Sons” (1990), “A Class to Remember” (1993), and “The Twilight Samurai” (2002), which swept all the major film awards in Japan including 15 awards at the 26th Japanese Academy Awards, and was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film at the 76th Academy Awards®, winning him international acclaim. The second in his trilogy, The Hidden Blade” (2004) was presented in competition at the 55th Berlinale, and the third, “Love and Honor” (2006) was the opening film for Panorama at the 56th Berlinale as well as enjoying a huge box-office in Japan. “About Her Brother” (2010) was shown as the Closing Film for the 60th Berlinale where Yamada also received a Berlinale Camera Award. In 2013, “Tokyo Family” (an homage to Yasujiro Ozu’s “Tokyo Story) made the international premiere at the 63rd Berlin Film Festival. In 2014, “The Little House” was selected in the competition at the 64th Berlinale where actress Haru Kuroki won the Silver Bear Award for Best Actress.
YAMADA has continued shooting film releasing "Nagasaki: Memories of My Son" in 2015 and "What a Wonderful Family 3: My Wife, My Life" in 2018. HIs latest film, "Mom, Is That You?!" was released in 2023 as his 90th film.
