Yamada was educated at and played forShimizu Commercial High School. At the high school, he won the national high school championship and the national youth championship with his team mates includingHiroshi Nanami,Go Oiwa andShigeyoshi Mochizuki. Some scouts regarded him as the No. 1 high school player of his age.
After graduating in 1990, he joinedJapan Soccer League sideNissan Motors where his powerful dribbling helped him quickly establish himself as a regular. When Japan's first-ever professional leagueJ1 League started in 1992, Nissan Motors was transformed toYokohama Marinos for whom he continued to play.
He moved toKyoto Purple Sanga in 1998, and then toVerdy Kawasaki in 1999. He announced the retirement from the game after the 1999 season at the age of 29. However,Hidehiko Shimizu, the manager ofJ2 League sideVegalta Sendai, who had also managed Yamada at Yokohama Marinos, successfully persuaded him to come out of the retirement and help Sendai to gain the promotion to J1 League. Yamada played for Sendai for 3 years from June 2000 to June 2003 before finally hanging up his boots. He was the leader and the influential player for Sendai who were promoted to J1 League for the 2002 season.
After retiring from the game, Yamada started his own business, a franchise chain of bakeries specialising inmelonpans, inSendai. After exiting the business, he now runs anIrish pub in downtown Tokyo as of July 2018.[2]
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