b. 1880 - Kagoshima
d. Feb. 24, 1921

Beginning as a painting student of the traditional Japanese style he then moved to the Western style as a student of Kuroda Seiki. His first woodblock was done for Watanabe ("Bathing" 1915) and that print is considered to be the first "Shin-hanga" print produced. It was also Goyo's last print for Watanabe as he demanded better printing standards than he was getting from Watanabe. Perhaps they could not collaborate effectively with Goyo having been trained in the school of self expression that is characteristic of Western Art.

In 1918 he resumed his woodblock work by setting up his own studio so that he could monitor everything from the carving to the printing (as did YOSHIDA, Hiroshi a few years later). In 1921 he died, completing the production of only 14 prints in his short print-making lifetime. Five are landscape type prints, eight are bijin-ga (beauties) and one Kacho-e (bird print). The blocks for these prints were destroyed in the 1923 Kanto earthquake.

Ten additional prints were published by his brother from Goyo's designs some years after his death. With Shinsui, he is the earliest Shin-hanga artist.

In his studio Goyo did not do his own carving or printing. He hired carvers Takano and Koike Seizo. His printers were Somekawa Kanzo and Akimoto Shozaburo.

Goyo also had a considerable parallel career as a designer and illustrator of books and was the author of articles on Ukiyo-e artists. He oversaw the reprinting for publisher Iwanami Shoten of Hiroshige's "Tokaido gojusan tsugi" ("Fifty three Stations of the Tokaido") in April 1919.