Born at Nakamura in Owari (Nagoya). His mother was reportedly a relative of Toyotomi Hideyoshi's mother, and through this tie he served Hideyoshi from childhood.
He distinguished himself at Shizugatake and was praised, with Fukushima Masanori and others, as one of the "Seven Spears of Shizugatake".
Granted the northern half of Higo (Kumamoto), he became a daimyō. He devoted himself to flood control—redirecting rivers and building embankments—and to new rice fields, and is still fondly called "Seishōkō-san".
In the Bunroku campaign he crossed to Korea, advanced far into the north and captured two Korean princes. A tale also says he hunted a tiger there.
Quarrelling with Ishida Mitsunari and others over the conduct of the Korean war, he was confined by Hideyoshi. A story says he was forgiven after rushing first to Hideyoshi's side during the great Fushimi earthquake.
He crossed to Korea again in the Keichō campaign. Surrounded by a huge Ming-Korean army in the newly built Ulsan castle, he endured a grim siege as water and food ran out.
Right after Maeda Toshiie's death, he joined Fukushima Masanori and others in trying to attack Ishida Mitsunari, deepening the rift among Toyotomi retainers.
Siding with the Eastern Army, he attacked Western Army castles in Kyushu such as Konishi Yukinaga's, and afterwards received all of Higo.
Around this time he completed Kumamoto castle, famed for its great stone walls, and changed the characters used to write the town's name. He was renowned as a master castle builder.
When Tokugawa Ieyasu met Toyotomi Hideyori at Nijō castle in Kyoto, he accompanied Hideyori. He fell ill on the ship home and died at Kumamoto.
Toyotomi HideyoshiMaeda ToshiieTokugawa IeyasuToyotomi HideyoriNabeshima NaoshigeNene (Kōdai-in)Ikeda TerumasaKeichū
Ishida MitsunariNaoe KanetsuguIi NaomasaFukushima MasanoriMaeda ToshinagaHosokawa GraciaKatō YoshiakiHosokawa Tadaoki
People of the Sengoku/Azuchi-Momoyama period ・ People by period
Based on facts found in textbooks and biographies. Uncertain points are marked as such.