Date of birth: April 8, 1942

Party: Democratic Party of Japan

Electoral district: Lower House; Nagasaki No. 3 (fifth term)

As senior vice minister of agriculture, forestry and fisheries, Yamada has been busy handling foot-and-mouth disease in Miyazaki Prefecture.

He used to run a farm with 400 cows in Nagasaki Prefecture and opened butcher shops and a "gyudon" beef bowl shop in the city of Nagasaki, though he has sold all such businesses.

His first entry into politics was in 1993 when he entered the Lower House on the ticket of the now-defunct Shinseito.

After various mergers and reorganizations of political parties, Yamada eventually joined the DPJ. He won reelection in the 2000, 2003 and 2005 polls through the proportional representation system, but last year he finally won the seat in his electoral district.