It’s not too late to get organised with One Piece, Tomie, Mother, and Tamagotchi at your fingertips.

If you’re looking for a diary at the beginning of the year, or the beginning of the school and fiscal year in April, then Hobonichi is a fantastic choice. Launched in Japan 25 years ago, the Hobonichi Diary, or “Hobonichi Techo” (pronounced “tetcho”) to use its Japanese name, has grown to include a wide range of styles, with daily planners in the “Original” A5 size and larger A6 “Cousin” size, as well as weekly “Slim” size planners, day-free and five-year diaries, and a choice of covers and stationery accessories to boot.

▼ The Hobonichi Diary range

The diaries are so carefully thought out, with handy grid layouts and inspirational quotes on every page, that they’ve become highly sought after both in Japan and overseas. Making them even more popular are the designs that adorn the diaries and the covers made specially for them, and we’ve picked out the best varieties that are brand new for this year.

▼ Frog and Toad

This three-piece range captures the beauty and charm of the Frog and Toad series of children’s books, written and illustrated by American author Arnold Lobel. The weekly “Slim” diary (top, right) retails for 3,190 yen (US$20.57), while the Cousin and Original covers (sold without the diaries) retail for 5,720 yen and 4,620 yen respectively.

▼ The covers come with leather or ribbon bookmarks attached to their spines.

▼ The Frog and Toad range is exclusive to retail chain Loft, both at its physical stores and online.

▼ One Piece

There are many One Piece items to choose from, with covers produced in collaboration with One Piece magazine, a popular publication.

▼ Original and Cousin covers in Mint Green and Sand Beige (4,290 yen and 5,390 yen respectively)

▼ Straw Hat Luffy Black cover (4,400 yen for the Original and 5,610 yen for the Cousin)

It’s recommended that the covers be used with the Hobonichi Techo Original – One Piece Edition (3,410 yen) diary, which contains a collection of quotes from the One Piece series.

▼ If you prefer not to use a cover at all, then the hardcover Straw Hat Luffy Red Weeks (3,190 yen) will be right up your alley.

Other items in the range include Hiriluk’s Cherry Blossoms Diary (3,190 yen for the Weeks and 3,960 yen for the A6 size) and stationery items like Rotating Stamp for the Techo – One Piece (5,940 yen).

▼ Hobonichi diaries are available in either Japanese or English versions, the latter of which costs 110 yen more.

▼ Pirate Flag Index Stickers (660 yen) and Vivre Card & Treasure Tab Letterpress Printed Card (950 yen)

▼ Chopper’s Techo First Aid Kit Stickers (660 yen)

▼ Next up is a range dedicated to Tomie, an iconic horror manga series by Junji Ito.

The covers feature original illustrations by 62-year-old Ito, which prove that Tomie is still as powerful as she was when Ito first introduced her to the world in 1987, almost 40 years ago.

▼ Tomie, an immortal seductress who drives men to madness and has the power to regenerate from her own severed body parts.

▼ Sticky Notes of Terror (660 yen)

▼ Memory Cover Cousin (centre, 5,390 yen), Haunting Beauty Weeks Diary (right, 3,190 yen for the Japanese version, 3,300 yen for English)

▼ Knowing Smile Cover (4,290 yen)

▼ Now it’s time to step out of the darkness with a sweet range in honour of Mother.

The covers here have been produced in collaboration with the Super Famicom game “MOTHER 2: Gyiyg Strikes Back!” (known as EarthBound in North America), which was released by Nintendo in 1994.

The Mr. Saturn (It’s Great) cover (5,390 yen) adopts a fascinating lenticular print that changes the image depending on which angle you view it from, so Mr. Saturn looks like he’s facing left (as in the image above) or right (below).

▼ There’s also a green Mr. Saturn (Doing Fine) cover for 6,490 yen…

▼ …and Clay Figurines diaries, in Original (5,500 yen) and Cousin (6,050 yen) sizes, available in English or Japanese.

Moomin also has a cute range, with the highlights being the Moomin Hobonichi Graph Notebook (1,210-1,540 yen), created in response to requests for a standard notebook that feels just like the Hobonichi Techo…

▼ …and the Rotating Stamp for the Techo – Moomin (5,940 yen), which will have you stamping all year long.

Hiroko Kubota is a Japanese illustrator who’s been producing designs for Hobonichi annually since 2022, and one of her most impressive designs this year features on the Waiting on the Chord diaries (3,520 and 4,070 yen), available in English or Japanese.

Kubota’s artwork also graces “The Sea’s Dream at Dawn” covers, in A6 (5,500 yen) and A5 (6,600 yen) sizes.

▼ The works of Japanese calligrapher Yuichi Inoue (1916-1985) appear on the A6 Hana (4,290 yen) and A5 Jo (5,390 yen) covers.

Finally, we have the hugely popular Tamagotchi range, which includes clear covers in Growth Chart! (A6, 720 yen), Colourful Tamagotchi (A5, 880 yen), and Carefree Tamagotchi (Weeks, 720 yen).

There’s also Tamagotchi Techo Discovered! covers in A6 (3,410 yen) and A5 (4,180 yen), as well as the hardcover Our Tamagotchi Weeks diary (3,190 yen).

▼ Other must-buys include the Push Button Stamp (1,320 yen)…

▼ …and the Deco Rush Decorative Tape (420 yen), both of which can be used to jazz up the days in your diary.

▼ Hobonichi also sells plenty of handy Techo-related stationery like stickers and sticky notes, priced from 440-660 yen.

As an added bonus, customers who purchase a Hobonichi Techo through the official Hobonichi website will receive a Tiny Robot Paperweight.

The robot is 3.5 centimetres (1.4 inches) tall, weighs 35 grams (one ounce) and was designed by game designer Kouichi Ooyama. The words “You Love You” are engraved on the body, and in case you were wondering, the robot was given a name when he was first developed – G.O.R-01, which stands for “Good Old Robot”.

With so many products to choose from, Hobonichi has all your diary needs covered. Whether you’re into stamping, scheduling, or anime, manga and video games, there’s plenty to keep you smiling throughout the year, so now’s the perfect time to join the global craze for Hobonichi.

Related: Hobonichi (international shipping available), Hobonichi Loft
Photos ©SoraNews24
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