Mibu Kanetake served as a bushō during the Sengoku and Azuchi-Momoyama periods.  He was a retainer of the Shimotsuke-Utsunomiya clan.

Kanetake was born as the second son of Mibu Tsunashige, a retainer of the Shimotsuke-Utsunomiya and the lord of Mibu and Kanuma castles in Shimotsuke Province.

Kanetake cooperated with his older brother, Mibu Tsunafusa (a sengoku daimyō and third head of the clan), to expand the authority of the Mibu.  Kanetake further served as a military strategist for his lord’s family, the Utsunomiya.  In 1521, at the Battle of Kawai, he advised the Iwaki clan to enter into a settlement with the Nasu clan, contributing to a reconciliation between the two clans.  In 1549, his lord, Utsunomiya Hisatsuna, was killed in action while fighting against Nasu Takasuke at the Battle of Kitsuregawa-Sōtomezaka.  Thereafter, Kanetake and Tsunafusa occupied Utsunomiya Castle.  In 1555, Tsunafusa suddenly died.  In 1557, Kanetake was defeated in battle against Utsunomiya forces who wrested away control of Utsunomiya Castle.

Serving as the representative of Utsunomiya Hirotsuna, Kanechika engaged in diplomatic negotiations with the Satake and Oyama clans in opposition to the Gohōjō.  

Amidst an expansion of the influence of the Gohōjō clan, Kanetake’s nephew, Mibu Tsunatake, devised plans to become independent of the Utsunomiya but Kanetake remained unwaveringly loyal to the Utsunomiya so came into conflict with Tsunatake (who had aligned himself with the Gohōjō).  In 1576, Kanetake and Haga Takasada deceived Tsunatake and assassinated him at the Tenman Shrine at Kanuma Castle, after which Kanetake became the lord of the main base of the Mibu clan at Kanuma Castle.  Kanetake then set about to govern the area of Nikkōsan.

Later that same year, Kanetake proceeded to attack Tsunatake’s son, Mibu Yoshitake, who had holed-up at Mibu Castle, but Yoshitake prevailed while Kanetake was murdered.