was the 6th (and final) Sakakibara "daimyō" of Takada and the 16th hereditary chieftain of the Sakakibara clan. Masataka was the eldest son of Sakakibara Masanori (榊原政礼), the third son of Masanori (榊原政令) who was 3rd "daimyō" of Takada. On the death of Masachika without heir in 1861, he was chosen as posthumous successor. His wife was a daughter of Arima Harusumi of Maruoka Domain. In 1866, his forces accompanied the forces of Hikone Domain in the Second Chōshū expedition, but were badly outmatched by the numerically inferior but better armed Chōshū forces. At the time of the Boshin War, he initially attempted to remain neutral; however, when forces of the Satchō Alliance entered Takada, his force chased the remaining shogunate forces out, and he defected to the imperial side. The forces of Takada were called upon to attack neighbouring Nagaoka Domain and later Aizu Domain. At the end of the war, many Aizu samurai were sent as prisoners to Takada, but were treated well by a largely sympathetic populace. In 1869, he was appointed imperial governor of Takada until the abolition of the han system in 1871. He received the "kazoku" peerage title of "shishaku" (viscount) in 1884.