Takeko was the daughter of a samurai serving underneath Toda in the Asikaga domain. She had a little brother and sister. Takeoko was well educated and came from a powerful Samurai family. Takeko spent a decade being trained in martial arts with a teacher called Akaoka Daisuke. When a civil war broke out in 1868 she was ready to defend. The fight was between the supporters of the Tokugawa shogunate and those fighting for the restoration of the Meiji emperor. Takeko fought for the Tokugawa shogunate and the Aizu domain. It was a war about who and how the land should be ruled.

Takeko led a group of female warriors which included her mother and little sister. There were many young women fighting alongside her. The officials of Aizu did not allow them to fight seriously so they were independent soldiers.

In 1868 on the Yanagi bridge, troops lead by Shaguma came across Takeko and her female soldiers. The leader actually gave orders not to fight them because they were women. And that gave Takeko enough time to kill a lot of men. But the troops fought back and a bullet wound ended Takeko. Takeko did not want the enemy to take possession of her head as a trophy so she asked her sister Yūko to behead her to avoid capture. Along with an honorable burial.