Born in 1560 in Harima Province as the son of Goto Motokuni. His real name was Mototsugu. Raised by Kuroda Yoshitaka (Kanbei), he served the Kuroda house and earned renown for his valor, counted among the Kuroda Twenty-Four Riders and Eight Tigers. He fought in the Korean campaigns and at Sekigahara. However, discord with his lord Kuroda Nagamasa led him to leave the Kuroda around 1606 and become a ronin; Nagamasa blocked his service elsewhere. In 1614 he answered Toyotomi Hideyori's call and entered Osaka Castle, becoming one of the Five Generals of Osaka. On May 6, 1615, at the Battle of Domyoji during the Summer Campaign, he led roughly 2,800 men against the massed forces of Date Masamune and Matsudaira Tadaaki, fighting for about eight hours before being shot and killed heroically. He was 56.

Bold and single-minded. A distinguished general excelling in both valor and strategy. Proud and principled, he would not bend his convictions even when it cost him his lord's favor.

As one of the Five Generals of Osaka, his heroic death at Domyoji has been retold for centuries. His journey from ronin to pillar of Osaka Castle's defense is celebrated in storytelling as the epitome of samurai pride.