Photos of the real Yamato is scarce because the IJN choose to burn its photo archives at the end of WWII. (What are they trying to hide, I wonder.) The latest and most difinitive view of the appearance of Yamato during her last sortie is probably embodied in the 1/10 scale model of the Yamato in Kure Naval Museum in Japan:
http://album.nikon-image.com/nk/NK_ImageView.asp?key=555537&un=97313&pos=1
This model show a number of differences from the references popular in the west, such as Skulski's Anatomy of the Ship: Yamato. Some of these differences includes:
1. square AA gun tubs on the fantail
2. extensions to the back of the signal platform
3. chain ramp on the upper end of the hawse pipe on the bow
4. detailed deck fittings behind the breakwater