Kenji Doihara
Yamada was born in Nagano Prefecture as the third son of Ichikawa Katashi, an accountant in the Imperial Japanese Army, and was adopted by the Yamada family as a child. He graduated from the 14th class of the Imperial Japanese Army Academy in 1903, and his classmates included future generals Motoo Furushō and Toshizō Nishio. He was promoted to lieutenant in February 1905 and taught as an instructor at the Army Academy, and was promoted to captain in September 1912. He graduated from the 24th class of the Army Staff College in November, where his classmates included Kenji Doihara, Kiyoshi Katsuki, Hisao Tani and Yanagawa Heisuke.