When he was thirteen years old, he received much recognition from Yasukazu YASUBA, the Great Secretary of Isawa Prefecture, and became Yasuba's live-in student with Makoto SAITO, who later became the Admiral of the Imperial Japanese Navy, while he worked at the Prefectural office by recommendation of Yasuba; GOTO moved to Tokyo when he was fifteen year old, to work as a gatekeeper and chore manager under Shozo SHOMURA, the junior clerk of the Grand Council of Tokyo,.
胆沢県大参事であった安場保和にみとめられ、後の海軍大将・斎藤実とともに13歳で書生として引き立てられ県庁に勤務しのち15歳で上京し、東京太政官少史・荘村省三のもとで門番兼雑用役になる。