Service under Nobunaga In 1577, when
Toyotomi Hideyoshi was spearheading the Oda clan's advance into the
Chūgoku region, he pledged loyalty to the Oda. Yoshitaka, together with the sickly
Takenaka Hanbei, served as Hideyoshi's strategist and assisted in the
Chugoku campaign against the
Mōri clan. In 1578, the lord of Arioka/Itami Castle,
Araki Murashige, concluded an alliance with the Mōri to revolt against the Oda. Kodera Masamoto also hatched a plot to cooperate with Araki. Yoshitaka went to Arioka castle to prevail on Araki not to defect, but Araki chose to imprison Yoshitaka instead. As a result, Nobunaga believed that Yoshitaka had defected to Araki's side and was furious, and Yoshitaka's son, Shōjumaru (later
Kuroda Nagamasa), was sentenced to death by Nobunaga. However, he was saved by
Takenaka Hanbei. Araki's revolt eventually concluded in 1579 at the
Siege of Itami, which resulted in Yoshitaka's rescue. Due to his long imprisonment (with lack of space for sleeping and sitting), Yoshitaka suffered a leg disorder and lost the eyesight in one eye for the rest of his life. In 1582, he fought in the
Siege of Takamatsu against the Mōri clan.
Service under Hideyoshi Yoshitaka fought at the
Battle of Yamazaki in 1582 under Hideyoshi, avenging the death of
Oda Nobunaga. He participated in the
Battle of Shizugatake in 1583 and the
Battle of Komaki-Nagakute in 1584. He also led Toyotomi forces in the campaign to
conquer Shikoku in 1585. Shortly before 1587, Yoshitaka was ordered by Hideyoshi to lead an attack on the
Siege of Kagoshima at
Kyushu. Along with him was the Christian
daimyō Takayama Ukon. After seeing the thriving Christian population of Kyushu, under Ukon's influence, Yoshitaka chose to covert, and was baptized with the name ドン・シメオン (Dom Simeão = Don Simeon). Later, after a visit to the Jesuit-controlled port of Nagasaki, Hideyoshi became fearful of the powerful influence that Jesuits and the Christian
daimyōs wielded. In 1587, Hideyoshi made his famous edict expelling foreign missionaries and ordering all Christian samurai under his rule to abandon their faith. While Ukon resisted the edict and lost his status, Yoshitaka gave up his new religion and adopted a monk's habit, calling himself
Josui (如水). Like
Naitō Joan (who took his name from Portuguese João), it is believed that Yoshitaka chose his new name from "Josué", the Portuguese version of "
Joshua". Yoshitaka’s most prominent act during his short time as a Christian was his arrangement to save a Jesuit mission from
Bungo when the Christian
daimyō of that province,
Ōtomo Sōrin, was under attack from the
Shimazu clan.
Sekigahara campaign Before the outbreak of the Sekigahara conflict between
Tokugawa Ieyasu with
Ishida Mitsunari, Yoshitaka and his son,
Kuroda Nagamasa, made contact with
Ii Naomasa, a Tokugawa general, and formed a pact of alliance. Through the Kuroda clan, Naomasa successfully swayed the other military commanders to support the Tokugawa clan. It was recorded that Yoshitaka and his son, Nagamasa, bore grudge towards Mitsunari due to their personal conflict with him over alleged mismanagements during the
Japanese invasions of Korea (1592–1598). In 1600, Yoshitaka was seemingly on the Tokugawa side during the Sekigahara campaign, having clashed against
Ōtomo Yoshimune at the
Battle of Ishigakibaru and also, having participated at the
Siege of Yanagawa. It was recorded that the legendary swordsman
Miyamoto Musashi participated in Ishigakibaru battle under the command of Yoshitaka. There is theory that Yoshitaka instead aimed to conquer the entire region of
Kyūshū for himself during the major commotion of the Sekigahara campaign, and he momentarily conquered seven of the island's provinces. However, despite the feat, he had to give up his plans due to Tokugawa Ieyasu's victory in the
Battle of Sekigahara. ==Death==