The 2023 Hobonichi collection has arrived, which means for many of you it’s time to pick out your new planner. 2023 heralds the introduction of the the English versions of the Cousin, Weeks and Weeks Mega. This is great news for English speaking Hobonichi fans, as it makes all the informational pages, as well as the daily quotes much more useful! If you’re new to Hobonichi, it can be quite intimidating picking out a planner. There’s a lot of options, and the variety of covers can make it almost impossible to choose! We’ve put together a quick guide to (hopefully) help you out.
The Techo
The Hobonichi Techo is an A6 day-per-page planner. It is light and portable, making it easy to carry around and pull out anytime. This classic planner is perfect if you want a compact book with a day per page layout. With a wide variety of covers to choose from, you can dress your Techo up to match your personality, or leave it as is to show off the textured black cover and delicate gold stamping. The Techo has simple gridded pages, with the date, phase of the moon and day of the year printed on the top. The left of each page has a solid line two squares in with ’12’ printed halfway down the page and a knife and fork at the bottom. you could use this to check off tasks, plan out the day, or just ignore it. Each double page spread also features a quote, and an overview of the month, with the days you are on circled. All the pages are printed in black apart from Sundays, which are in red.
The Stats:
- Language: English
- Pages: 448
- Paper: Tomoe River – ultra-thin and light-weight
- Start of Week: Monday
- Yearly Index: Dec 2022 – Mar 2024 (8 Pages)
- Monthly Calendar pages: Dec 2022 – Mar 2024 (32 Pages)
- Daily Pages: 1st Jan 2023 – 31st Dec 2023 (377 pages)
- Graph Paper Size: 4 mm
The Cousin
The Hobonichi Cousin is an A5 day-per-page planner, and the largest book in the Hobonichi line up. The A5 size is twice the size of its A6 Techo counterpart, so there’s plenty of room to use the Cousin for both business and pleasure. The Cousin is the book for you if you want a bigger planner for bullet – journaling, or just like more space to write. The Cousin has simple gridded pages, with the date, phase of the moon and day of the year printed on the top. The left of each page has a solid line two squares in with 6, 9, 12, 15, 21, 0 and 3 printed on the left to help plan your day. There are also 5 check boxes at the top of each page that could be used for a daily to-do list. Each double page spread also features a quote, and an overview of the month, with the days you are on circled. Each month is printed in a different colour, so you can easily see each month on the fore edge of the book.
The Stats:
- Language: English
- Pages: 544
- Paper: Tomoe River – thin & light-weight
- Start of Week: Monday
- Yearly Index: Jan 2023 – Dec 2023 (2 Pages)
- Monthly Calendar pages: Dec 2022 – Mar 2024 (32 Pages)
- Daily Pages: 1st Jan 2023 – 31st Dec 2023 (377 pages)
- Graph Paper Size: 3.7 mm
The Weeks
The Hobonichi Weeks is a long, week-per-view diary. The book is slim and roughly the size of a long wallet, making it easy to fit into a handbag or suit pocket. The Hobonichi Weeks is perfect if you want a slimline diary to plan out your week. The Weeks has a full page of calendars for last year, this year and next year, as well as a monthly calendar for December 2022 to March 2024 taking up a double page spread for each month. The weekly pages have Monday to Sunday on the left page, with a gridded memo page on the right for extra information. There are also 75 gridded memo pages at the back (219 in the mega!). Every weeks also comes with an adhesive clear pocket, that can be stuck in the back cover to hold receipts, tickets or even a key.
The Stats:
- Language: English
- Pages: 240 (384 in the mega)
- Paper: Tomoe River – thin & light-weight
- Start of Week: Monday
- Yearly Index: Jan – Dec 2023 (2 Pages)
- Monthly Calendar: Dec 2022 – Mar 2024 (32 Pages)
- Week-to-view Layout: 28th Nov 2022 – 31st Dec 2023
- Graph Paper Size: 3.55 mm
- 75 Gridded Memo Pages (219 in the mega)
The 5-Year Techo
An A6, day-to-view diary that can be used over five years to see how your life changes. The 5-Year Techo features the same date across five years on each daily page for users to write each entry side by side, making the book more exciting as each year passes. The 5-Year Techo is ideal if you want to see the changes in your life over 5 years, maybe you’re having a baby, or have just started a business? Where will you be in 5 years?! The left page of has the same date over 5 years, while the right page is a gridded memo page, perfect for sticking tickets or other memories. The 5-Year Techo is perfect if you’re starting a business, and want a record of how it grows over the next five years, or if you’re having a baby and want to record their first years in one book!
The Stats:
- Language: Japanese
- Pages: 752
- Paper: Tomoe River – thin & light-weight
- Start of Week: Monday
- Yearly Calendar: 2023, 2024, 2025, 2026, 2027
- Day-per-page layout (over 5 years): 1st Jan 2023 – 31st Dec 2027
- Graph Paper Size: 3.7 mm
- 1 Gridded Memo Page Per Day
TL;DR
A6 Techo – if you want a compact planner, with a day per page layout
A5 Cousin – if you want a bigger planner for bullet-journalling, or just like more space to write
Weeks – If you want a slimline diary to plan out your week
5-Year Techo – If you want to look at the next five years all together
