Goyo's family name was actually Hashiguchi Kiyoshi. Like many other Japanese artists including Kawase Hasui and Ito Shinsui, he chose to work under an artist name. He picked the name "Goyo", because of his admiration for the five-needle pine tree, or Goyo matsu, growing in his father's garden. Go is the Japanese word for five, and yo is the word for needle or leaf. |