A warrior of the Sengoku and Azuchi-Momoyama periods, born the second son of the Sanada clan of Shinano Province (present-day Nagano), his given name Sanada Nobushige. Together with his father Masayuki and brother Nobuyuki, he survived in post-Takeda Shinano, and through his father's stratagems found himself caught between the Eastern and Western armies before Sekigahara (1600). In the First and Second Battles of Ueda (1585 and 1600), he and his father repelled Tokugawa forces. At Sekigahara he fought for the Western army, and father and son were exiled to Kudoyama (present-day Wakayama Prefecture). After fourteen years in exile, he joined the Toyotomi side in the Siege of Osaka (1614–1615). In the Winter Siege he constructed an outwork called "Sanada-maru" and tormented the Tokugawa forces; in the Summer Siege he routed the Date Masamune forces and pressed so close to Ieyasu's command post that Ieyasu reportedly contemplated flight—before Yukimura fell in a glorious last stand, at the age of 49. The words of Shimazu Tadatsune, praising him as "Japan's greatest warrior," have been passed down through the ages.

A man of indomitable will who never gave up, with the samurai resolve to face death without fear for the sake of loyalty. Skilled in stratagem under his father Masayuki's influence, his fighting at the Siege of Osaka was the pure embodiment of warrior aesthetics. He maintained his loyalty to the Toyotomi house to the very end.

The strategy of "Sanada-maru" and his heroic fighting at the Summer Siege of Osaka were passed down as an ideal image of bushidō for later generations. He was depicted in the NHK taiga drama Sanada Maru (2016) and remains one of the most popular Sengoku warriors in modern Japan. Historic sites associated with Yukimura remain at Sankō Shrine and Yasui Shrine in Tennōji Ward, Osaka.