Born the eldest son of Takahashi Jōun, a senior retainer of the Ōtomo of Bungo.
At the request of the great Ōtomo general Tachibana Dōsetsu he was adopted, marrying Dōsetsu's daughter Ginchiyo and becoming heir to the Tachibana.
A great Shimazu army attacked; his father Jōun fought to the last at Iwaya castle and died, while Muneshige held Tachibanayama castle.
Distinguishing himself in Toyotomi Hideyoshi's Kyushu campaign, he was hailed as "peerless in the west" and granted Yanagawa in Chikugo as a daimyō.
In the Korean campaigns he fought the Ming at Byeokjegwan and elsewhere with distinction.
Honouring his debt to Hideyoshi, he joined the West and took Ōtsu castle but missed the main battle. Afterwards he was stripped of his domain and became a masterless samurai.
Valued for his character and ability, he entered Tokugawa Hidetada's service and, granted a small fief at Tanagura in Mutsu, became a daimyō again.
He was granted his old domain of Yanagawa again—the only Western Army lord at Sekigahara to recover his original lands.
Though old, he joined the campaign to crush the Shimabara Rebellion and advised on strategy.
He died in Edo, a commander respected by friend and foe for valour and integrity.
Toyotomi HideyoshiTokugawa HidetadaNabeshima Naoshige
Ikeda TerumasaŌtani YoshitsuguDate MasamuneSanada Yukimura (Nobushige)Kuroda NagamasaYodo-donoItō MancioHasekura Tsunenaga
People of the Sengoku/Azuchi-Momoyama period ・ People by period
Based on facts found in textbooks and biographies. Uncertain points are marked as such.