He appeared in many Nikkatsu movies such as . His first film in Nikkatsu was "Kumo ni mukatte tatsu", which starring . He supported the Nikkatsu Junai / Youth route, which became a relatable in the 1960s. There are many co-starring works with Masako Izumi, and appeared other films such as "" and "" directed by are representative works. He also co-starring with legendary singer . He specializes in singing and playing guitar. In 1962, he formed a band called Young and Fresh (ヤング・アンド・フレッシュ, "Yangu Ando furesshu") with , Toshio Sugiyama, Hajime Sugiyama, and Masahiro Kinoshita (four were Nikkatsu actors), and released records and they would featured in several movies. In 1966, the band sung "Futari no Ginza" and "Tokyo Night" with Masako Izumi became big hits, and the movie of the same name was also produced (Ginza Lights and Tokyo Night). With the decline of Japanese movies, Yamauchi moved his career to other television studios and played an active part as a singer, public speaker and moderators. His best known role was a teacher in the "Abare Hatchaku Series", aired from 1979 to 1982, and in NHK's "Hobby Course" (played as a fisherman and mountain climber) broadcast from 1983, 1997, and 1998. In the summer of 2003, Yamauchi was diagnosed with lung cancer, but was later recovered soon after. After that, 4 operations were performed on Yamauchi after suffering from both metastases and esophageal cancers. 