The Hobonichi Techo is the Daily Planner You Didn’t Know You Needed

My daily planner is a constant in my life. I write my to-do lists in there, use it to keep track of my appointments and draw little doodles when I get stressed. But some people I know use their daily planners for journaling and recording events. I wanted to start doing more writing in my daily planner, but couldn’t find one that gave me enough space to do everything I wanted to use it for.

So I started searching for a planner that could fit all the things I wanted to do while also being convenient enough to carry with me everywhere. It also had to look really good. I didn’t just want a notebook. After days of research, I came across the daily planner of my dreams. The Hobonichi Techo.

Made in Japan, the Hobonichi Techo is marketed as a ‘life book’. A daily planner flexible enough for a variety of uses — not just writing down your schedule.

There are seven different types of Hobonichi Techo life books, with five of them having two different sizes and languages to choose from.

A guide to Hobonichi Techo

The hardest part about buying a Hobonichi Techo is figuring out what type suits your needs the most. Here’s a quick guide for each type.

Hobonichi Techo Planner

This A6 planner is available in English and has a page to a day. It features a textured, black cover with the word ‘planner’ on the front in Japanese.

Pros:

• Has a 180-degree lay-flat binding.
• The page corners are rounded to prevent damage to the edges.
• The paper is thin and light (called Tomoe River paper).
• Daily pages are printed on graph paper for neatness.

Cons:

• No weekly pages at the beginning of each week.
• The cover can be easily damaged, so it’s worth buying a separate protector.

Hobonichi Techo Original

The Original is A6 size and is only available in Japanese. The language difference is great if you’re studying Japanese as an English speaker or if you don’t want to be distracted by the quotes at the bottom of each page. Similar to the planner, it features a page to a day.

Pros:

• 180-degree lay-flat binding.
• Rounded page corners.
• Tomoe River paper.
• Can be bought in a two-book set called the Hobonichi Original Avec (six months per book).

Cons:

• No weekly pages at the beginning of each week.
• The cover is made of a card material, so it’s prone to damage if you don’t buy a separate cover.

Day-Free planner

The Day-Free comes in A6 and A5 and combines monthly calendar pages with the rest of the pages being plain grid paper. This planner is perfect if you don’t use the dates or if you use your diary as a bullet journal.

Pros:

• That good Hobonichi lay-flat binding.
• Tomoe River paper and rounded page corners.
• Half the thickness and weight of the Planner and Original

Cons:

• It has the same card cover as the Original, so it’s recommended that you buy a cover for it.
• Only available in Japanese language (a downside if you’re wanting an English version).

Techo Cousin planner

The cousin of the Hobonichi Techo Original. This planner has all the same features as the Original but comes in an A5 size.

Pros:

• The A5 size means there’s more room for bullet journaling and adding in clippings.
• It has an Avec version if you would rather have two six-month books instead of a larger 12-month one.
• Comes in English and Japanese versions.

Cons:

• The bigger size means it’s heavier and may not fit in smaller bags.
• The cover is made of the same card material as the Original.

Hobonichi Techo Weeks

This planner features a week per page rather than just a day, so you can see your whole week in advance.

Pros:

• It’s the size of a slim wallet (about two-thirds of the width of an A5 book), perfect for carrying around all day.
• The spread has the days of the week on the left page, and blank grid paper on the right, so the days can be extended if needed.
• The cover is a thick material that comes in a variety of covers, so you don’t need to buy a separate cover.
• Has a separate Mega Edition which includes extra grid paper for note-taking.

Cons:

• It doesn’t have 180-degree lay-flat binding.
• There’s not much space if you have big handwriting or want to write a lot.

5-Year Techo planner

This planner is for people who only want to buy one planner every five years. It also has an interesting layout so the book doesn’t increase in thickness. It’s a page to a day, but each day page has the date across 5 years.

Pros:

• You spend a lot less money on daily planners.
• You can reflect back on each day from previous years.
• Comes in A6 or A5 size.
• It has a PVC softcover so you don’t need to buy an extra cover to protect it.

Cons:

• You’re committing yourself to the same planner for a long time (variety is the spice of life).
• Because each day has limited space, it can be hard to write a lot about your day.

Hobonichi Techo HON

This planner has the same contents as the Hobonichi Techo Original. The only difference is that the HON features a hardback cover.

Pros:

• It has two bookmarks. Weeks is the only other Techo planner that has this feature and it’s fantastic.
• The hard cover means you don’t need to buy an extra cover to protect it.

Cons:

• As this planner is new, it’s only available in Japanese.

Nothing is more satisfying than a good daily planner. If you’re looking for other ways to stay organised, check out our list of TikTok office gadgets.