Hikohachi was born on April 15, 1855, at the
Kagoshima Castle within the
Satsuma Province. His father was Aritsune Yamada who was a feudal retainer of the
Satsuma Domain while his mother, Suma, was the younger sister of
Toshimichi Ōkubo and his brothers were and . Under the advice of his uncle Toshimichi Ōkubo, he moved to
Tokyo and enrolled in the
Imperial Japanese Naval Academy in 1871. During his education, he took part in the
Satsuma Rebellion as part of the crew of the
Asama. In December 1905, he was transferred to the command of the
1st Fleet and after serving as the commander of the Sasebo Torpedo Command and the Kure Torpedo Command> He was then promoted to Vice Admiral in August 1908 and was appointed Commander of the 1st Fleet. Since then, he has served as commander-in-chief of the
Takeshiki Guard District and served as the commander-in-chief of the
Ryojun Guard District. He served as the commander-in-chief of the
Yokosuka Naval District and a member of the Naval Officers' Council. In March 1915, he was transferred to the reserves. ==Court Ranks==