Born a son of Takenaka Shigemoto, a warrior of Mino (Gifu), then ruled by the Saitō.
To admonish his lord Saitō Tatsuoki over his misrule, he seized Inabayama castle with a tiny band (numbers debated). He later returned the castle to Tatsuoki and withdrew.
Oda Nobunaga took Inabayama castle and the Saitō fell. Nobunaga renamed it Gifu castle and made it his base for unification.
Around this time he began serving under Hashiba Hideyoshi. A tale that Hideyoshi visited him repeatedly to recruit him is considered a later story.
In the war with the Azai he excelled at winning enemy commanders over, and took part in the Battle of Anegawa.
He followed Hideyoshi's Chūgoku campaign, planning sieges in Harima. With Kuroda Kanbei he is known as Hideyoshi's brains.
When Kuroda Kanbei was imprisoned at Arioka, Nobunaga suspected betrayal and ordered the hostage Shōjumaru killed. Hanbei secretly hid the boy and saved him.
He died of illness in camp during the siege of Miki castle in Harima, still only in his mid-thirties.
Kuki YoshitakaTokugawa IeyasuKanō EitokuFuruta OribeAzai NagamasaKuroda Yoshitaka (Kanbei)Takeda KatsuyoriMogami Yoshiaki
People of the Sengoku/Azuchi-Momoyama period ・ People by period
Based on facts found in textbooks and biographies. Uncertain points are marked as such.