Born into a merchant family in Kochi Prefecture, Yamamoto's given first name is Denzaburo. He studied Japanese-style painting with Yamamoto Shunkyo (1871-1933) from 1919 until Shokyu's death. In 1943 he began to study with Domoto Insho (b. 1891) and in 1953 he became a Nitten exhibition judge. In 1966 Yamamoto submitted a prize-winning painting entitled "Sunset" to the Shinitten exhibition. His work is best characterised as of the traditional Kyoto school bird-and-flower genre, with modern overtones.