Born in Kagoshima, Japan in 1910. While studying at Waseda University, he immersed himself in theatre activities and left the university in 1932 after expressing opposition to military training through cultural work. He entered Shochiku in 1933 and worked as assistant director to Naruse Mikio, before moving the following year to PCL (Photo Chemical Laboratory, later Toho). Promoted to director in 1937, he was drafted in 1943 and engaged in reporting activities on the Chinese front, returning to Japan in 1946. After the war, he left Toho following the studio labor dispute and became independent. He directed socially engaged works such as The Thick-Walled Room (1952) and founded Yamamoto Productions in 1955. After the success of Shinobi no Mono (1962), he went on to direct major adaptations of novels by Yamazaki Toyoko, including The White Tower and The Grand Family, as well as the Men and War trilogy. He passed away in 1983.