Early career as a samurai Yamada was born in
Abu District,
Nagato Province (in what is now part of the city of
Hagi, Yamaguchi), and was the son of a samurai official of the Chōshū Navy with a 102
koku territory. After studies at the domain's
Meirinkan Academy (where he studied the
Yagyū Shinkage-ryū school of
Japanese swordsmanship), he joined the
Shōkasonjuku Academy run by
Yoshida Shōin in June 1857. He was the youngest student of the
Shōkasonjuku. He was in the retinue of Chōshū
daimyō in
Kyoto in the autumn of 1862. A strong supporter of the
sonnō jōi movement, he signed his name in blood (together with
Takasugi Shinsaku,
Kusaka Genzui,
Itō Hirobumi,
Inoue Kaoru,
Shinagawa Yajirō) to a petition to rid Japan of the foreigners. After Chōshū forces were driven from Kyoto by supporters of the
kōbu gattai movement, he went into exile with
Sanjō Sanetomi. During this period, he studied western military science under
Ōmura Masujirō. He soon had the opportunity to put his training to practical use during the
Kinmon incident,
Shimonoseki Campaign, and
Second Chōshū expedition. Despite his youth, he subsequently played a major role in the
Boshin War, commanding a group of 700 men under the authority of Chōshū
daimyō Mōri Takachika, starting with the
Battle of Toba–Fushimi, and also commanding
Satchō Alliance naval forces in
Mutsu Bay.
Meiji restoration In June 1869, Yamada was received in an audience (together with
Kuroda Kiyotaka) and appointed
Hyōbu no dai-jō (senior staff officer in the
Ministry of War). This rank became that of
major general in the fledgling
Imperial Japanese Army in July 1871. On 22 October 1871, he set sail for the
United States as a member of the
Iwakura Mission. Visiting
San Francisco,
Salt Lake City,
Chicago, and
Washington DC, he also went to
Philadelphia to view the
Philadelphia Naval Shipyards. He then returned to Japan via
Paris,
Berlin, the
Netherlands,
Belgium,
Lausanne,
Bulgaria and
Russia. He also visited the
1873 Vienna World Exposition, returning to Japan 2 June 1873. On his return, he was named
Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to
Qing China to negotiate the opening of
diplomatic relations, however,
Kido Takayoshi went in his place, as Yamada was called upon to use military force to suppress the
Saga Rebellion and subsequently the
Satsuma Rebellion by disgruntled ex-samurai. On 5 July 1874 he was appointed Justice Lord under the
daijō-kan system, which he held to 10 September 1879. He was awarded the
Order of the Rising Sun, 2nd class in 1875, and was promoted to
lieutenant general in November 1878. The following year, Yamada was appointed a
sangi (councillor), and served as head of the
Minister of Industry (1879–1880),
Home Minister (1881–1883) and
Minister of Justice under the first
Itō,
Kuroda, first
Yamagata and
Matsukata cabinets (1883–1891). In addition, he helped develop the modern Japanese
legal code/ During his visit to France as a member of the Iwakura Mission, he was convinced that the
Napoleonic Code of "law takes precedence over the military", was necessary for Japan. He also helped establish both the
Koten Kokyusho (present-day
Kokugakuin University) and the
Nihon Horitsu Gakko)(present-day
Nihon University). Yamada was elevated to
count (
hakushaku) in the
kazoku peerage on July 7, 1884, and served as a member of the
House of Peers (Japan) from its establishment in 1890. On January 28, 1892, he was appointed to a seat in the
Privy Council but died in November of the same year at the age of 49, while inspecting the Ikuno Silver Mine in
Asago, Hyōgo. He was posthumously awarded the
Order of the Paulownia Flowers. His grave is at the Buddhist temple of
Gokoku-ji in Tokyo. He was posthumously promoted to the honorific title of Senior Second
Court Rank. ==Decorations==