He was born in Kajiyacho in the Kagoshima castle town, sixth son of a domain samurai who served as scribe and spear instructor. Kajiyacho was also where Saigo Takamori and Okubo Toshimichi grew up. In the goju system, where youths trained body and mind together, he was known as a brave boy.
Though still a boy, he took part in the Anglo-Satsuma War, when a British squadron attacked Kagoshima. Seeing the power of Western warships firsthand may have been one reason he later chose the navy. He also served in the Boshin War that began in 1868, fighting in various places.
After the Boshin War, introduced by Saigo Takamori, he received guidance from Katsu Kaishu and resolved to join the navy. After the Kaiseijo and other schools he entered the Naval Academy. It is said that Yamamoto and other students with combat experience sometimes argued with instructors who had never seen battle.
When Saigo Takamori left the government, he followed him back to Kagoshima, but Saigo himself persuaded him to return to the academy, and he graduated this year. His grades were near the bottom, but he went on to gain steady experience as a naval officer.
He married Tokiko from Niigata. It was unusual at the time for a Satsuma officer to marry a woman from a non-samurai family. Yamamoto was known as a devoted husband all his life. He lived simply, neither drinking nor smoking, and is said to have gone straight home after work.
Navy Minister Saigo Tsugumichi appointed him chief secretary of the minister's office, putting him at the center of naval administration. In the First Sino-Japanese War he explained the importance of sea control to army leaders, easing joint operations, and he worked to make the navy's general staff independent of the army's.
After the Triple Intervention, as head of the Naval Affairs Bureau he carried out sweeping reforms to build a navy able to face Russia. Dismissing many older officers, he was criticized for arbitrary rule as if he were minister, but Saigo Tsugumichi trusted him, took responsibility and let him complete the reforms.
He became Navy Minister in the second Yamagata cabinet and led the navy for about eight years until the end of the Russo-Japanese War. He sent young officers such as Akiyama Saneyuki abroad to study, assembled warships and improved shipyards. He is also known for reforming shipboard meals, which nearly eliminated beriberi among crews.
Preparing for war with Russia, he chose Togo Heihachiro, then at Maizuru, as commander of the Combined Fleet. When Emperor Meiji asked why, he reportedly answered that Togo was a lucky man. Yamamoto remained cautious about starting the war until victory seemed possible.
At the Battle of Tsushima the Combined Fleet defeated Russia's Baltic Fleet, and the war ended in Japan's victory. As Navy Minister, Yamamoto supported the whole war effort, using the Anglo-Japanese Alliance to hamper the Baltic Fleet's long voyage. He resigned the next year and was later made a count.
After the Taisho political crisis toppled the Katsura cabinet, he allied with the Rikken Seiyukai and became prime minister. He relaxed the rule requiring active-duty officers as army and navy ministers, allowing reserve officers to serve, in an effort to curb military power.
The Siemens scandal, in which senior naval officers had taken bribes from firms such as the German company Siemens, came to light and drew fierce public criticism. Taking responsibility, Yamamoto resigned with his cabinet and entered the naval reserve, afterward refraining from public comment as an elder.
The day after the Great Kanto Earthquake struck, he was again appointed prime minister. He made Goto Shinpei head of the capital reconstruction agency to rebuild Tokyo and moved toward universal male suffrage. But late that year he took responsibility for the Toranomon Incident, in which the Prince Regent was targeted, and his cabinet resigned early the next year.
In the spring he lost Tokiko, his wife of many years, and in December of the same year he died of illness at his home in Takanawa, Tokyo. He never became a genro, but Emperor Showa later named him, with Oyama Iwao and Yamagata Aritomo, as one of the great commanders of the Meiji army and navy.
Katsu KaishūSaigō TakamoriŌkubo ToshimichiYamagata AritomoŌyama IwaoSaigō TsugumichiTōgō HeihachirōAkiyama Saneyuki
Saionji KinmochiTerauchi MasatakeTakahashi KorekiyoInukai TsuyoshiHara TakashiOzaki YukioKatō TakaakiKatō Tomosaburō
People of the Taishō period ・ People by period
Based on facts found in textbooks and biographies. Uncertain points are marked as such.