The artist was born in 1828 and was called Yamakawa Yasokichi.
During Tempo Era (1830-44) he moved to Kaga Province and studied under Yanagawa Harushige for twelve years. In 1862 he changed his name to Takatsugu and worked for the Kaga Clan till his death in 1882.

Some of his works are illustrated in Kaga Kinko Taikan (Ishikawa-ken 1983), pp. 86-89