 In 1890 Gotō was sent by the Japanese government to Germany for further studies.While at the ministry, in 1890 he published his Principles of National Health (国家衛生原理) and took part in the creation of new sewage and water facilities in Tokyo.This recommended him to Army Vice-Minister Kodama Gentarō (1852–1906), who made Gotō chief of the Army Quarantine Office looking after the return of more than 230,000 soldiers from the First Sino-Japanese War (1895–95).