Career
Fujitaka was a prominent retainer of the last Ashikaga shoguns. When he joined the Oda, Oda Nobunaga rewarded him with the fief of Tango. After the Incident at Honnō-ji (1582), Fujitaka refused to join Akechi Mitsuhide.
However, he remained an active force in politics as a cultural advisor, under both Toyotomi Hideyoshi and Tokugawa Ieyasu.
Hideyoshi granted Fujitaka a retirement estate worth 3,000 koku in Yamashiro Province in 1586, and added another 3,000 koku in 1595. As a general in the Eastern Army, he garrisoned Tanabe Castle with around 500 soldiers.
When Tanabe Castle was besieged by the Western Army, the general commanding the siege had great respect for Fujitaka. Because of this, the attack lacked the usual spirit involved in a samurai siege: the attackers amused themselves by shooting the walls with cannons loaded only with gunpowder.
Fujitaka laid down arms only after an imperial decree from Emperor Go-Yōzei.
However, this was 19 days before Sekigahara, and neither he nor his attackers were able to join the battle.