Born the third son of Mōri Motonari of Aki (Hiroshima).
By his father's design he was adopted into the Takehara Kobayakawa of Aki. He later also inherited the Nuta Kobayakawa, uniting the two branches.
At Itsukushima he led the Kobayakawa fleet to help his father win, and reportedly worked hard to bring the Murakami pirates of the Inland Sea to their side.
His father Motonari wrote a long letter urging Takakage and his two brothers to work together to protect the Mōri house; it later spread as the tale of "the three arrows".
When his father died he and his brother Kikkawa Motoharu supported their nephew Mōri Terumoto; the two were called the "Two Rivers of the Mōri".
He made peace with Hashiba Hideyoshi at Takamatsu castle in Bitchū. Learning of the Honnō-ji Incident just afterward, he reportedly kept his word and did not pursue Hideyoshi—a choice that later earned the Mōri good relations with him.
He joined Hideyoshi's Shikoku campaign and was granted Iyo (Ehime).
After the Kyushu campaign he received Chikuzen (Fukuoka) and other lands and built Najima castle.
In the Bunroku campaign in Korea he defeated a Ming army at Byeokjegwan.
He adopted Hideyoshi's nephew Hideaki, handed him headship and retired to Mihara. He was also counted among the Five Elders of the Toyotomi government.
He died at Mihara, remembered as a wise general who supported the Mōri house from outside.
Mōri MotonariMōri TerumotoKobayakawa HideakiKikkawa Motoharu
Uesugi KenshinŌtomo SōrinKikkawa MotoharuLuís FróisAsakura YoshikageShimazu YoshihisaŌmura SumitadaOda Nobunaga
People of the Sengoku/Azuchi-Momoyama period ・ People by period
Based on facts found in textbooks and biographies. Uncertain points are marked as such.