The Goto (加賀後藤) school arose when the Maeda lords of Province drew masters of the Goto house from Kyoto into their direct service. The founding figure was Goto Kakujo Mitsunobu (覚乗光信), born in Kyoto in Tensho 17 (1589) as the second son of Chojo. By the directive of Tokugawa Ieyasu, the Goto family's closely guarded techniques, transmitted as an exclusive isshi soden (一子相伝) lineage, were conferred in full upon Kakujo of the Kanbei house, although it was not the main line. Retained by the Maeda at the extraordinary stipend of 150 , he was held in particular favour by Lord Maeda Toshitsune. The school's second principal figure was Goto Etsujo Mitsukuni (悦乗光邦), second son of Teijo, who strengthened the Rihei branch. Together with Enjo (演乗) of the Kanbei house, Etsujo alternated yearly between Kyoto and Kanazawa, training many disciples and devoting himself to the development of metalwork.
The designated corpus reveals a body of work executed entirely in the orthodox Goto house manner (o-ie-ryu). The prevailing ground is , upon which designs are rendered in with gold (金色絵) and, in polychrome compositions, gold, silver, and . Gold grounds also appear, as in Kakujo's futokoro-mono set upon a gold plate with polychrome accents. The repertoire draws on canonical Goto subjects -- the traced back to Yujo, branching chrysanthemums (), and bundled bamboo shoots (takenoko) -- while also encompassing hatching crane eggs and the shachi, the latter lending "an atmosphere somewhat different from the Goto house's canonical themes." In complete ensembles, the full suite of fittings is worked in scattered with the family crest in gold with , yielding mountings of courtly splendour. The chiselwork is praised as meticulous even in the smallest details: Kakujo's crane-egg reveals "the maker's high level of skill" the more closely it is studied, and Etsujo's shachi is called a work "into which Etsujo poured his full power."
The attest to the Goto's significance within the broader Goto tradition. Etsujo's workmanship adheres "exclusively to the orthodox Goto house style," with skill "in no way inferior to that of his father Teijo," and the construction and of Mitsukuni's signed match Teijo's own work. Because both Kakujo and Etsujo served as retained artisans of the Maeda house, relatively few signed works survive -- signed by Mitsukuni are termed "extremely few" and deemed "valuable material for the study of the Goto family." Their rarity, combined with the exceptional technical standard the corpus documents, underscores the Goto school's place within the Goto legacy and the -period tosogu canon.