In 1839, on a monthly visit to a shrine with friends he had in Goju (Satsuma's educational organization), he tried to intervene in a fight between some of his friends and other Goju, and the Kamigumi Goju took a knife and cut the nerve inside Saigo's right arm.
天保10年（1839年)、郷中仲間と月例のお宮参りに行った際、他の郷中と友人とが喧嘩しその仲裁に入るが、上組の郷中が抜いた刀が西郷の右腕内側の神経を切ってしまう。