I travelled to Japan in May and was able to have a really great meeting with the management team at Hobonichi HQ in Tokyo. I always visit them in early summer, so that I can get a look at some of the ideas for next year’s diaries - the new sample covers! I saw a couple of ideas this time too, and they’re so exciting. Their overseas market division is managed by women, and I really adore them. They are so passionate about what they’re
doing, and so dynamic! It is wonderfully refreshing to see energetic and smart women doing so well in business in Japan. As you probably know, Japan is still very much a male-dominated society, which is one of the reasons I left Tokyo and moved to London 20 years ago.
Time has passed since then, and – as an indication – I have recently been working with the first female governor of Tokyo, Yuriko Koike, as well as our beloved Ippodo tea’s head of marketing, another highly successful business woman. Then of course, our wonderful Nishura East was founded by myself (a Japanese woman), and our team there has my two excellent and tireless female colleagues.
All of us use Hobonichi diaries in the office. Each of us, of course, have different tastes, so we all have different diary covers. It seems we cannot work without Hobonichi! I saw that at Hobonichi’s HQ, all their employees use their diaries too (of course). Some of them use a Weeks diary (slim and compact), and some use a Cousin (A5). I guess some of them might also use diaries without covers, though personally I prefer having a cover, as I can then use it to hold important business cards or little memos (very useful for meetings). I am currently using a blue A6 grey leather cover, which I’ve had
for two years now, and which is with me every single day! I know that Hobonichi leather covers are slightly expensive, but they are beautiful, and I love the way the leather becomes softer day by day. I might even use my current cover next year too! You could even look at it as being a good long-term investment.
