Hobonichi 101
What is a Hobonichi Techo?
The Hobonichi Techo is a Life Book that reflects the lifestyle of each user with its flexible layout. Over a million users world wide use this Life Book annually!
Mini vocabulary lesson:
Hobonichi (ho-bo-nee-chee) - a popular Japanese media company and lifestyle brand that created the Hobonichi Techo.
Techo (teh-choh) - Japanese for planner or notebook.
Kaigi (kie-ghee) - Japanese word for meeting or discussion. Used alongside Techo to form Techo Kaigi which is a planner meeting
Tomoe River Paper
This well-known for being extra thin and light yet highly resistant to bleeding and feathering. Great for fountain-pen writers and having a book with a lot of pages without the bulk. Also lies flat!
Pei's thoughts: I LOVE this paper type. It is a dream to write on. Don't be afraid of how thin the paper is, a pencil board under solves the problem.
Hobonichi Techo Types
Original
Exactly what it means! The original designed hobonichi that is in a portable A6 size. It is meant for every day carry and use. This life book was the first introduced by Hobonichi 23 years ago. One page per day book: A daily page layout encourages you to write, document and journal once a day. The original does not come with a cover.
Pei's thoughts: This is a great size for someone to use as an every day journal. I know some might find it too small to use as a daily planner because of it's page size. Personally this size is the lowest on my personal use ranking.
HON A6
I like to think of it as a dressed up Original! the exact same inner pages, layouts and spreads but with a designed hardcover. Every year, Hobonichi partners with different artists and create special cover designs.
Pei's thoughts: Similar to the original! The covers of these get me sometimes and I like to think I will use this A6 size but have yet to really get into a rhythm. This is a great size for someone to use as an every day journal. I know some might find it too small to use as a daily planner because of it's page size. Personally this size is the lowest on my personal use ranking.
Cousin
Twice the size of the original as an A5. It also operates as a one page per day book. This comes with the same idea of a daily page lay out but with the added weekly vertical spread. The cousin does not come with a cover.
Pei's thoughts: I have loved this size as a daily archive journal as well as memory keeping. I have tried it out as a work planner and felt like it was too clunky for that. Being able to get a cover I love and just swap out the book it self is something I love doing. It feels a bit like an "investment" and commitment to choose one cover but also feels less wasteful if that makes sense as I can reuse it year after year. I do have a cover-on-cover (an additional clear cover) that keeps my cover crisp!
HON A5
Think of it as a dressed up Cousin! the exact same inner pages, layouts and spreads but with a designed hardcover. Every year, Hobonichi partners with different artists and create special cover designs.
Pei's thoughts: I think this is a great option to the Cousin as it already comes with a hard cover! You cannot beat the very cute collaboration cover designs and it's a good way for you to explore using a Cousin without the investment of a cousin + cover to start!
Covers
Original and Cousin books are a plain, paper cover. You are supposed to add Hobonichi covers. Your covers are meant to be used year after year as you can just swap out the interior techo.
*Cover on Cover - literally an additional, usually clear sleeve that goes on top of your cover to give it an extra layer of durability.
Pei's thoughts: OMG the cover options are always so good. Since it's a cover meant to be used over and over again, it's important to consider practicality and your own lifestyle to choose one. I think the covers they debut are always classic and timeless.
Weeks
Their popular slim, wallet- sized planner with a weekly, horizontal layout on one side, and a grid note page on the other. This planner gives you so much flexibility and portability due to the layout and size. The also produce a color series each year and Hobonichi also partners with different artists and create special cover designs.
*Is also available in MEGA which gives you 219 note pages compared to just 75 in the regular weeks.
Pei's thoughts: My favorite book by far! After many years (decades) of using and trying out so many different planners, the Weeks is the singular planner I have consistently used on a daily + regular basis. The size is great to always have on me and it's just the right size for me as someone who has SO much to do, to be able to narrow things down since the pages are sized slim.
5 Year
This techo covers a period of five years with the same date on each page so you can compare a growing collection of entries and enjoy looking back at the years prior. Available in A6 + A5 size.
Pei's thoughts: I have this in the A6 size and just started this year (2026). It feels less overwhelming because I chose a smaller A6 size. And the sections for each day is about an inch so it feels doable. I have been using it to write down a few daily thoughts/sentences and sometimes will add in a lil picture, sticker or piece of ephemera. I'm looking forward to being able to see how my days were year after year!
How to choose?
Things to consider when choosing a Hobonichi Techo: interior format, size of book, how you are going to use it!
Other things to note: Hobonichi also makes exclusive cover designs for speciality stores in Japan as well as Japanese exclusive designs.
Top Pick:
If you are new to the Hobonichi Tech world, I highly recommend giving the Weeks a try.
It's a great size so you have no excuse to not use it since you can always have it with you.
The covers are fun and customizable (if you add a clear cover, you can decorate with stickers etc.)
I have seen it used so many ways. You can use it domain specific in your life - example: to track all your sewing or art projects. as a meeting/appointment only planner. as a weekly journal. meal planner. fountain pen ink index. and SO much more. The interior layout is SO versatile.
Happy Hobonichi season :)