Once, pointing at a poem by Li Po, Kawaguchi laughed and taught Saigo "Mr Saigo, a poem should be written like this, yours cannot form four ('四' [shi] which pronunciation is the same as '詩' [shi] Chinese poetry) yet, and cannot form even three ('三' [san] which pronunciation is the same as '賛' [san] a style of Chinese literature for praising someone or something), hahaha!"
ある時などは、李白の詩を示して、「西郷さん、詩はこう作らないといけません、あなたのはまだ四（詩）になりません。三（賛）にもどうですかなあ、ハッハッハ」と笑ったという。