During the summer when he was 15, he had a chance to hear the master tsugaru shamisen artist at the time play at his school. It was a deeply moving experience that he says he still remembers vividly. "It really knocked me out," he recalls. "I was a big fan of his records, but when I heard him live, I was so thrilled I couldn't move for a while." Yamada became an apprentice and began his professional training.

He performes almost nightly at the club, improving his skills along the way. He's issued countless records, tapes, and CDs. He also has a large following overseas, where since 1976--when he held concerts in Budapest, Hungary and Vienna, Austria--he has been playing every year. He's also performed together with jazz musicians worldwide.

Yamada also serves as the chairman of national association that promotes the development of various schools of the tsugaru shamisen. In November 1999, on the tenth anniversary of the association's founding, a festival was organized at Tokyo Dome--the big baseball stadium in the nation's capital--where around 1,000 players from around the country performed together in a huge ensemble. Through events like these, the association is trying to win over new fans among a broader spectrum of the population.