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Rob Goss

@robgoss.bsky.social
451 followers 324 following 433 posts

Author. Writer. In Japan, from Devon. Latest book: Another Japan (Gestalten 2026) www.robgosswriter.com

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Rob Goss @robgoss.bsky.social · 40m
Yes, we are very lucky with the options in Tokyo. Years ago, I gave a talk at one in Hiroshima and that also looked great. I think the school my son recently graduated is switching to IB DP soon - looks really good.
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Rob Goss @robgoss.bsky.social · 2h
That's one reason we opted for int. schools, from about 6 years old. Both were inclusive and multicultural, and the first in particular also had a lot families living here long term so he still has friends in Tokyo from those days. Negative is cost and how fees kept rising with no change in quality.
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Rob Goss @robgoss.bsky.social · 16h
Both would be interesting topics. I did a post-grad diploma in journalism many years ago via USQ (when I was an English teacher here) and it helped me a lot. My son also went to international schools in Tokyo and that was a good fit for him (IB initially, then GCSEs/A Levels) and us as a family.
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Rob Goss @robgoss.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
A big thank you to Chris for a lovely review of Another Japan on his Substack, where he also posts about lesser known parts of Nagano and shares his poetry. walkingonearth.substack.com/p/review-ano...
walkingonearth.substack.com
Review — Another Japan: Life and Culture Beyond the Metropolis (2026)
Written by the intrepid Rob Goss, with photography by Irwin Wong, this book brings you to corners of the country where locals are doing good work to sustain and revive their communities, often against...
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Rob Goss @robgoss.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Someone please send sunshine.
japantimes.co.jp
Tokyo sets a new record with 34 straight days of rain
The rainy-day streak is the longest since the Japan Meteorological Agency began keeping records in 1886.
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Rob Goss @robgoss.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
The spammy/scammy emails about my books are now daily. All AI slop using the same language (“what caught my attention” / “what stayed with me”). The same praise that parrots the marketing blurbs. Same offers of promotion or interviews or support. Ugh.
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Rob Goss @robgoss.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
Absolutely hammering down in Tokyo. The drain pipes are making a non-stop whooshing sound like a jet passing over head.
The rain radar for Tokyo. Absolutely hammering down since yesterday because of the typhoon, though the note at the bottom says it’ll be stopping around 11pm.
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Rob Goss @robgoss.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
A tanuki. And an opportunity for me to use a word I rarely get to break out: rantallion.
A statue of a tanuki, compete with its traditionally oversized ball bag.
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Rob Goss @robgoss.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
Nice. I got my copy of the one you keep appearing in ads for on my Instagram feed!
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Rob Goss @robgoss.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
Tried doing Edo Kiriko this morning.
Trying Edo Kiriko…
The final piece. The things in the shadow are supposed to be new shoots.
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Rob Goss @robgoss.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
I could feed the AI slop machine part of my soul to see what I’d have looked like in the 1980s, but I guess I’d still look like a bulldog chewing a wasp. And I’d no longer be able to call anyone who uses GenAI a moron, nor any “writer” who uses it as part of their “creative process” an imposter.
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Rob Goss @robgoss.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
Nothing quite like a large, looming deadline to get me cleaning the bath, making mitarashi dango, tidying the office, knocking out to-do lists for things after the deadline, starting a new playthrough of Sekiro, and all sorts else except writing anything for the large, looming sodding deadline.
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Rob Goss @robgoss.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
Evri have taken the shenanigans to new heights.
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Rob Goss @robgoss.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
Evri-esque.
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Rob Goss @robgoss.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
CT scanned. Ultra sounded. Learned a new word in two languages: 鼠径ヘルニア (inguinal hernia). Delightful.
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Rob Goss @robgoss.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
Dolly was wonderful. My mum's folk band used to do some of her songs (and Kenny Rogers duets) when I was a kid.
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Rob Goss @robgoss.bsky.social · 23/08/2026
The 2am quake here in Tokyo was quite a wake up. Biggest one I’ve felt for a while.
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Rob Goss @robgoss.bsky.social · 22/08/2026
I hope those tides settle down for you soon. Thank you for link.
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Rob Goss @robgoss.bsky.social · 22/08/2026
Fellow social anxiety-er. Well, it comes and goes (or has peaks and troughs rather than entirely going). This is a new (and interesting) approach for me.
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Rob Goss @robgoss.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
Got treated to a rainbow on tonight’s stroll with the hound.
A rainbow over Tokyo.
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Rob Goss @robgoss.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
With my son about to head back to college in the UK after a summer here in Tokyo, it turns out that the emotional whirlwind that comes with an empty nest can be just as tumultuous with year 2 as the first time. Would “tryingtokeepmyshittogetheruntilhegoes” be too long for a hashtag?
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Rob Goss @robgoss.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
This time last year I was in a river in Wakayama, cooling off between interviews and shoots. It ended up as two chapters in a book: one on Kitayama village, where a super fruit and traditional rafting have helped with regeneration, and another on the hot spring hamlets of Yunomine and Kawayu.
The river running through Kitayama village in Wakayama.
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Rob Goss @robgoss.bsky.social · 11/08/2026
A #haiku inspired by the glamour of travel writing. check in... plastic carnations caked in dust
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Rob Goss @robgoss.bsky.social · 08/08/2026
About choosing projects. Or struggling to.
After a big project or super-busy period finishes, I often feel a slight sense of overwhelm when working out what to focus on next; how to balance all the possible ideas; which work offers to say no to; which of my ideas to shelve; which to commit to.
This weekend is the "listing it all phase", so I can see the choices more clearly. And it's a right mess.My main focus for the next two months is a project I'm very excited about. I'll get to write in depth about a bunch of interesting topics for one of my favourite (and longest) clients.
But I also want to make time for my haiku/haibun collection and get stuck into some scripts. I'd be tempted to send haiku off to publications [mini rant incoming], but so many won't take anything previously shared on social media, which is silly given they don't pay and take ages to reply.There are also book ideas to outline and pitch in the hope of lining up a new book contract for next year. Well, there will be work-for-hire book projects from one client at least, but l'd like to write others too.
Before all that are a couple of simple articles to get done for clients to clear the decks; add in some admin I need to catch up on and non-work things to schedule - next UK trip included. As I write this the dog has popped into the office... he hums...l've added "wash the hound" to my to-do list.Usually, I'm decisive when I make a list and start to cull from it, but today I'm umming and ahhing like an absolute moron. The list is getting longer, not shorter.
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Rob Goss @robgoss.bsky.social · 07/08/2026
Hot day in Tokyo. I’m thinking of snow. Though not as much snow as this drive from the Tango Peninsula to Kinosaki earlier in the year.
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Rob Goss @robgoss.bsky.social · 05/08/2026
Flapping high in the air along with "I'm not [racist/homophobic/anti-immigrant/etc], but..."
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Rob Goss @robgoss.bsky.social · 05/08/2026
Nothing signals that there’s a hideous opinion on the way quite like “allow me to play devil’s advocate”.
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Rob Goss @robgoss.bsky.social · 05/08/2026
The same book is now number 1 in Amazon UK's bestseller list for "City Photography". This is meaningless given how a few sales can push a book to the top of a niche list. Even more silly is that the book is about rural Japan...no city photos in it. But that's the list Amazon has just switched us to.
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Rob Goss @robgoss.bsky.social · 05/08/2026
Today is an 'ugghhh, Amazon' day. For a while now the English edition of one of my books listed on Amazon Japan has had a product description in German - something neither author nor publisher can change directly in this case and something nobody else seems able to change/deal with.
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Rob Goss @robgoss.bsky.social · 28/07/2026
So many things for this list! Can we add haiku as inspirational memes or so mystical/abstract they have absolutely no meaning?
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Rob Goss @robgoss.bsky.social · 25/07/2026
Just in case you have guests you want to impress and you anticipate they’ll need a poo.
Kleenex toilet roll in Japan. Called “for the guest”.
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Reposted by Rob Goss
Fernando Gros @fernandogros.com · 24/07/2026
There was a question here a while ago about how you know you've met your kind of people. For me it's a feeling. Specifically, my kind of folks help others feel big and bold. They listen to people's dreams. They extend hope. Give permission. Make change and growth feel possible.
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Rob Goss @robgoss.bsky.social · 22/07/2026
It’s become a tradition over the past decade or so to get a photo of the hound with each book I write. Not always the easiest task…as this morning is reminding me.
Book and dog’s paw. Book is called Another Japan. Book and blurry dog. He’s scratching. Dog with tongue out, drooling over a book.
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Rob Goss @robgoss.bsky.social · 21/07/2026
I'm very fond of Aomori. You might like the Aomori Gokan (aomorigokan.com/en/). Some of the Jomon sites are interesting there too. Or Hachinohe has a nice Sunday morning food market and a lovely coastal trail. Hirosaki for apple pies!
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Rob Goss @robgoss.bsky.social · 21/07/2026
It’s tiny but on the one occasion I went I picked up some HP and a few other treats.
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Rob Goss @robgoss.bsky.social · 21/07/2026
It is now available at the British shop in Shibuya, though the prices aren’t great.
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Rob Goss @robgoss.bsky.social · 21/07/2026
Possibly some subsized Branston, Twiglets and pasties would help too.
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Rob Goss @robgoss.bsky.social · 21/07/2026
It’s also a great base for day trips. I prefer Aomori and Morioka (just because they are smaller) but I’m always happy if a work trip includes Sendai for a night or two.
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Rob Goss @robgoss.bsky.social · 21/07/2026
45 minutes on the bicycle running errands this morning and absolutely drenched in sweat. It’s going to be a scorcher in Tokyo this week.
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Rob Goss @robgoss.bsky.social · 18/07/2026
I didn’t have enough characters available for this moan about writers advocating for other writers when it comes to pay rates. So it’s a screenshot.
I like that there are websites and social media accounts that post editor callouts and opportunities for writers. I also get that many publications legitimately have low budgets and that it's up to writers to decide what fees are acceptable for them.

But I think it would help even more to somehow label the opportunities that offer extremely poor conditions, so early career writers are made aware that something like $100 for 1000 words is dreadful. Perhaps an opportunity to build an initial portfolio, but not a professional rate or anywhere near it.Advocating for better pay and contract conditions isn't something any professional writers organization I've been a member of has seemed hugely interested in. So it's up to writers to advocate for each other. Not normalizing poor pay is part of that.
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Reposted by Rob Goss
Tom Fay @tom-fay.bsky.social · 16/07/2026
Kenzanso might just be the most beautifully situated mountain hut in the whole of the Japan Alps #japan #hiking #mountains
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Rob Goss @robgoss.bsky.social · 16/07/2026
Ideally, it can go in the bin along with crusader outfits.
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Rob Goss @robgoss.bsky.social · 15/07/2026
Thank you. I think my copies are arriving this week.
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Rob Goss @robgoss.bsky.social · 15/07/2026
Well, that was an enjoyable World Cup run. Shades of Southgate at the end, but there you go. Argentina were the better team.
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Rob Goss @robgoss.bsky.social · 15/07/2026
That’s pretty much it! I sometimes feel I then try too hard to correct it and am pouting like I’m doing an over the top Mick Jagger impersonation.
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Rob Goss @robgoss.bsky.social · 15/07/2026
One trait I've discovered while talking to people about the book, as lots of it covers rural areas, is that I cannot say the word rural properly. I grew up in a national park - a super rural area. My first language is English. Still can't say rural. It just oozes out, like a pathetic growl.
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Rob Goss @robgoss.bsky.social · 15/07/2026
It's brilliant. It was so different to what I was used to in the UK. My memory is sketchy, but I think someone also gave me a reusable 7/11 coffee cup that I could refill at will for no extra cost.
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Rob Goss @robgoss.bsky.social · 15/07/2026
An abridged version of the intro to the new book. A lot of the focus is on rural Japan but not entirely - the book's gaze is away from the big cities and visits small villages, islands and towns, but also some communities with larger populations.
gestalten.com
Beyond the Metropolis: Discovering Rural Japan’s Hidden Cultural Renaissance
Explore Another Japan by Irwin Wong and Rob Goss. Discover how rural Japanese communities are fighting depopulation with art, tradition, and sustainable tourism as an antidote to overtourism
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Rob Goss @robgoss.bsky.social · 14/07/2026
Thank you for the reposts @tylerrothmar.bsky.social and @10millionhardbacks.bsky.social.
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Rob Goss @robgoss.bsky.social · 14/07/2026
In other news, I broke the lid of one the things we freeze cooked rice in. At least the hound was amused…
Foreground is the broken lid of a plastic container. Background is a smiling black dog, a kuroshiba.
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