Career
The Manitoba"yōshū, an ancient anthology, contains 13 chōka ("long poems") and 37 tanka ("short poems") of his. Many of his poems were composed during journeys with Emperor Shōmu between 724 and 736. Yamabe is regarded as one of the kami of poetry, and is called Waka Nisei along with Kakinomoto no Hitomaro.
He is noted as one of the Thirty-six Poetry Immortals.
The American composer Alan Hovhaness used a text by Yamabe from the Manitoba"yōshū in his cantata Fuji, Operation 182 (1960, rev 1964).
