After graduation from the Japanese Naval War College in 1919, he was promoted to lieutenant commander and assigned as Chief Gunnery Officer on the Iwami.

He was promoted to rear admiral on November 15, 1935, and became chief of the Second Section of the Imperial Japanese Navy General Staff.

While on the General Staff, he was a strong proponent of the Nanshin-ron, urging that New Guinea, Borneo and the Celebes in the Netherlands East Indies be considered as part of Japan's strategic sphere-of-interest.

Shortly before the attack on Pearl Harbor, Takahashi served as commander-in-chief of the IJN 3rd Fleet, which included the 5th and 7th Cruiser Squadrons and the 2nd and 4th Destroyer Flotillas and formed part of the Southern Force under the command of Vice Admiral Nobutake Kondō based in Taiwan in 1941.

Taro graduated from the Imperial Japanese Naval Academy as part of the 69th Class on 25 March 1941, and was killed in action at the Battle of Leyte Gulf on 26 October 1944 while serving as Gunnery Officer of the destroyer Nowaki.