Image provided by Hobonichi Techo Tokyo team
In Japan, April marks the start of a new fiscal and academic year and is a time when people start fresh with a new Techo or planner.
Despite the world becoming increasingly digital, Japan’s so-called “techo culture” celebrates the pleasure of organizing and documenting ones life in a planner.
And no techo brand is more popular than Hobonichi Techo.
The Hobonichi Techo notebook was born in 2000 from the mind of Shigesato Itoi, a Japanese renaissance man who got his start in copywriting and went on to become a game designer, talk-show host, editor-in-chief of the website Hobo Nikkan Itoi Shimbun, as well as the voice of Mei and Satsuki’s dad in Miyazaki’s My Neighbor Totoro.
The notebooks became somewhat of a phenomenon, selling millions of copies in Japan, and in 2012, an English edition was created and offered to the world. Since then, these perfect little planners have gone on to inspire Tumblr pages, Reddit threads, and over a million Instagram posts.
The popularity of Hobonichi Techo is largely owing to the brand’s ability to balance a considered sense of purpose for every detail and with the freedom for individual style and creativity. The spacing between lines has been tweaked by fractions of a millimeter several times, and the planners include a full page for every day of the year.
The page-per-day approach encourages users to embrace creativity daily and to treasure even the mundane. This concept is inspired by the Japanese Buddhist proverb, “日日是好日” (nichinichi kore kōnichi), meaning that “Everyday is a good day”.
This approach to reflecting on each day, with importance, is shown to provide positive mental health benefits, alleviate anxiety and tamp down intrusive thoughts.
In a year with little to look forward to, a simple calendar’s inevitability has taken on special significance.
Join JASH and the Hobonichi Techo team from Tokyo to learn how to use your Techo to its fullest potential.
This event is free with registration. Sample techo pages will be provided to participants.
Click the button below to register:
