Born in 1548 as the second son of Yoshihiro Akinao, a senior retainer of the Otomo of Bungo. Originally named Yoshihiro Shigemasa, he was ordered by Otomo Sorin to revive the extinguished Takahashi house, taking the name Takahashi Shigetane (Joun) and becoming lord of the strategic Iwaya and Homan castles in Chikuzen. Alongside Tachibana Dosetsu he shouldered the defense of Chikuzen, and the two were celebrated together as the finest generals of the Otomo — Dosetsu the 'Thunder God of the West,' Joun the 'Wind God of the East.' After the Otomo's leading general Ryuzoji Takanobu was killed in battle against the allied Shimazu-Arima forces in 1584, the balance of power in Kyushu tipped decisively toward the Shimazu. In July 1586, as a Shimazu army of several tens of thousands invaded Chikuzen aiming to conquer all of Kyushu, Joun entrusted Homan Castle to his second son Muneuchi (later Tachibana Naotsugu) and held Iwaya Castle himself with a garrison of only 763 men. He rejected the Shimazu's demand for surrender, and after half a month of fierce fighting his entire garrison perished alongside him on July 27. He was 39. His desperate resistance is credited with buying crucial time before Toyotomi Hideyoshi's pacification army arrived, blunting the Shimazu's momentum. Legend holds that the Shimazu commanders who inspected his severed head wept at the loss of so loyal a warrior. His eldest son Muneuchi had already been adopted into the Tachibana house by Tachibana Dosetsu (becoming the famed Tachibana Muneshige), and Joun's heroic last stand became an inseparable part of the story later told of his son, founder of the Yanagawa domain.

A warrior who prized duty and loyalty above all. His choice to fight to the death rather than surrender, even when survival was possible, won admiration from allies and enemies alike. The pride and loyalty later shown by his son Muneshige are said to owe much to his upbringing.

His stand at Iwaya Castle — holding off a Shimazu army many times the size of his 763-man garrison for half a month — is remembered as one of the most heroic sieges in Kyushu's Sengoku history. His grave still stands at the Iwaya Castle ruins in Dazaifu, where he continues to be honored locally for his valor and loyalty.