CheesecakeRecipe
Stormy Grey
English Store | 日本語
2015 Thread | 2016 Thread
The Master - and Stationery industry plant - Bagels approached me, his pupil, and asked if I would do the Hobonichi thread this year. I feel like he made a mistake. Let's find out if your wallet agrees!
The Hobonichi Techo is, at first glance, a really fancy set of words for a day planner. Created and designed by Shigesato Itoi, known for the Mother series of games, it has developed a cult following since its introduction in 2002, every devotee just as eccentric and creative as the man behind the plan...ner. Fans were drawn to the Hobonichi as a way to express themselves day-to-day, with Itoi and company encouraging users to treat the planner as more of a scrapbook or random thought depository. Some really get into the arts & crafts aspect, with gorgeous results!
(via Flickr)
(via Hobonichi Love)
(via The Hobonichi)
More examples from the official site!
Think of your Hobonichi as a "Life Book", instead of the drab, business-only imagery of a typical day planner. Rip the tag off of your mattress and tape it in there. Take a Polaroid and glue it onto your page for that day, with a little poem to commemorate. Spruce up a dreary day with some thoughts decorated with Washi, stickers, or doodles. You could also jot down your grocery lists or keep a minimalist bullet journal! It's yours to treat however you wish.
But, you should reeeeally have some fun with it. Who likes boring?
The Hobonichi Techo is well-loved for its spacious, full-page-per-day design. Each book contains a little over a year's worth of pages, plus calendar pages for keeping track of birthdays, appointments, the release date for Twin Peaks Season 3, whatever you need to remember! You'd think that the book might be too bulky with so many pages, but that's where the Hobonichi's worst kept secret comes in: Tomoe River paper.
Folded and pressed 1000 times under the light of a full moon, Tomoe River paper is held in high regard by stationery freaks around the world for its resilience - while still being thin enough to almost be confused for rice paper. Fountain Pen users especially appreciate its ability to hold its own against saturated inks, which many notebooks still struggle with. Use that Moleskine you just bought as a bulky wad of paper towels to wipe up a coffee spill instead!
...A-anyway, its quality is unmatched by many other journal/planner systems. Everything from the paper, binding, layout, and the covers, are all treated with attention to detail where it counts. It's thin enough to stuff into a back pocket, but maaaaaaaaaaybe not quite sturdy enough to handle being sat on. That's where the covers come in!
Favored by creative types (like myself!) and hipsters (...like myself...), Hobonichi can be used with a variety of covers, which range from muted and elegant to gaudy and ostentatious. Beauty in the eye of the beholder, as they say. Just, you know, not in my eye. I need that. Covers are made with various materials like cloth, nylon or leather, and often feature work from renowned fashion designers.
(I have a thing for the minä perhonen designs~)
Much like the contents of the book itself, covers are meant to personalize the book to your ａｅｓｔｈｅｔｉｃ and sense of expression. While not required to get the most out of your Hobonichi by any means, it's a part of the overall experience, and you should have a look at this year's offering to see if something catches your eye! Because covers are hand-made, they frequently sell out until more of that particular design can be made. As the store opened at the start of the month, some covers are already in restock limbo. Covers are also usually only available for a single year, though this year they have opened an "Archive Shop" with a very limited selection of covers from previous years.
Covers range from $20 for the basic nylon editions to $400+ for the really fancy designer models. We spared no expense.
Have option paralysis yet? Well... um, I forgot to mention that the Hobonichi comes in several shapes and sizes. W-wait! Hang on, I have a handy guide here to help you figure out which book is right for you.
Hobonichi Planner
A6 paper size (105 mm x 150 mm x 14 mm / 4.1" x 5.9" x 0.6")
English
~$26
“Techo” translates to “Planner” or “Notebook”. It may seem awkward that only one book uses the English word for Planner, but in this case, it's the special version designed for the English market. The entire book is translated, corny inspirational quotes and weird factoid pages in the back included! This is my recommendation for most users, as you'll be able to enjoy all of the quirky features out of the box in the bag they ship it to you in. I find it a bit drab and too 'professional', with its faux textured base cover and mostly black-ink print. There's also a slight price hike over the JP version of this book, most likely to cover for the translation costs, extra materials, and partnership with the ARTS&SCIENCE design company. The Planner and the Techo Original (seen below) are compatible with all of the A6 size covers.
Hobonichi Techo Original + Original Techo Avec
A6 paper size (105 mm x 150 mm x 14 mm / 4.1" x 5.9" x 0.6") - Avec: (105 mm x 150 mm x 8 mm / 4.1" x 5.9" x 0.3")
日本語
~$20 (~$22 for the Avec)
The book that started it all, in a language you might not understand! The Hobonichi Techo Original is functionally the same as its English sibling, but differs in key ways. Besides the obvious language barrier, it also features special pages that cater to the Japanese audience moreso than users from other countries. The pages for each individual month are also different colors, which is something that I love and wish they'd bring over to the English planner. The Avec version is actually a pair of books, each one covering a 6 month timespan, perfect for those looking for an even smaller footprint for their planner than it already has!
Hobonichi Techo Cousin + Techo Cousin Avec
A5 paper size (148 mm x 210 mm x 17 mm / 5.8" x 8.3" x 0.7") - Avec: (148 mm x 210 mm x 10 mm / 5.8" x 8.3" x 0.4")
日本語
~$36 (~$40 for the Avec)
The Cousin is the other blood relative of the Techo Original, with much larger page sizes and double the weight. This option is great for serial doodlers, wandering minds, protagonists of Haruki Murakami novels, or busybodies who need to write down an entire meeting's worth of notes on a whole page. It's only available in Japanese, so it has the same drawback as the Techo Original, but still a worthwhile purchase if you feel you could put the extra space to good use! Be sure to buy the right size cover if you're picking up a Cousin, as the Planner/Original covers are much smaller. There's even a few designs unique to the Cousin! It also has a special section for week-specific planning, adding a little more thickness for the sake of covering all of your organizational needs. Available in Avec, as well!
Hobonichi Techo Weeks
Alien paper size (94 mm x 187 mm x 10 mm / 3.7" x 7.4" x 0.4")
日本語
Price varies based on material (~$18-$38)
I... don't even know where this thing came from??? It just showed up one day, kinda looked a lot like a Hobonichi Techo, and it's what's inside that counts! Techo Weeks planners are advertised as a wallet-sized iteration of the Hobonichi system, cutting the daily pages in lieu of a slimmer, more simplistic design. Since the bulk of the planner is separated into weekly pages, you'll be a bit cramped if you have a problem with writing too much (like me) unless you have an incredible shorthand language at the ready. Unlike its fellow Japanese planner... uhhh - Cousins? Siblings? Far distant relatives twice removed? - the Techo Weeks comes with either a textured base cover, or a hard cover with design printed on textile material. I've never seen one of these in person before, buuuuuuuuut...
...they make a pretty convincing case for themselves, don't they~
I know it's a lot to take in, and by now your brain surely feels a bit like this well-used Hobonichi here. Just a few more things, I promise! One wafer thin mint?
Buying from the Hobonichi Store directly will give you access to the full range of planner models, covers, and accessories. Money being what it is, exchange rates will dictate if you'll be buying at a slight discount or paying extra. Shipping from Japan is also a bit expensive, based entirely off of the weight of the package. They provide a simple price estimation guide at their website, but it only tells part of the story. Use a currency calculator to figure out how much you'll be paying ahead of time. A Techo Original ($20) and basic cover (~$20) will run you close to $60 when shipping to the US. European territories have the unfortunate luck of needing to deal with customs fees as well - evidence I've seen online says that most orders will get slammed with some sort of extra charge, but I don't know if this is always the case.
You can also buy from a limited selection of domestic retailers that have been authorized to sell the planner and a fraction of potential covers, which will save you ~$15.
US - Jetpens (2017 now in stock!)
UK - The Journal Shop (2017 now in stock!)
If you feel like you haven't spent enough money yet, I could certainly use some help saving up for a nicer cover this year! If you're not feeling up for sharing the wealth, you should stop by Bagels' account-emptying fountain pens thread. Might as well have a nice pen to jot your fanfiction ideas down into your Hobonichi with, you know? They do benefit the most from the Hobonichi's choice of paper stock, so it's something to keep in mind as you get ready for 2016 to be the last death it claims with 2017 looming in the distance.
