#beyourpet

Hello! I have a… thing… about planners… so it has taken me a while to reply to this. 

I have used Hobonichi Techo A6, Hobonichi Cousin A5 Avec (two 6-month books), and Hobonichi Weeks. They have their differences. I love they way they look, but the only one of these three that I used consistently for at least two months was the Cousin A5 Avec. I’ve since ordered two other planners and given up on them, and am unsure about what I’ll be using for next semester/year. 

Why are they worth the cost?

It’s all about the paper. Tomoe River paper is a premium Japanese paper that is much thinner than standard copy paper. It is resistant to a lot of bleeding and feathering, making it great for people who like to use fountain pens, watercolor, calligraphy pens, highlighters, etc. It is smooth as heck and I always want to touch it. The only pen I’ve personally used that bled through was a Copic, which bleeds through everything. The paper is just amazing. 

I’ll also mention the features. It lays flat, no matter where you are in the year. The A6 Techo has monthly layouts and a page-per-day. The A5 Cousin has monthly and vertical weekly layouts as well as the page-per-day. The page-per-day feature is something you don’t see in many planners, and the tomoe river paper lets you journal, write notes, paint, or do whatever every day of the year. 

The main reason they are expensive is probably that they are imported from Japan, which means you are either ordering online from the Hobonichi website or from a secondary website like JetPens and therefore covering part of the import cost. Why is this worth it? You can get either a Japanese language or English language planner, but the Japanese is cute and fun to use if you’re interested in or learning Japanese. It’s also one of the only ways to get your hands on the paper. 

What about a cover?

Covers are not necessary, but are cute and fans collect them like mad. You can order an official Hobonichi cover with your order through the Hobonichi website or JetPens, on Etsy, or through various facebook groups. Or you can just use an A6 or A5 notebook cover! Just search around on youtube for “hobonichi A6 in ____ cover” and you can often find examples of people using other brand covers on their Hobonichi. Otherwise, you can find offbrand covers on Etsy, Aliexpress, etc. For a minimalist cover, I used a Midori A5 Notebook Cover on my Hobonichi A5 Cousin Avec and it fit perfectly, keeping my notebook thin and portable. 

If you want to save money but try them out…

I really suggest looking at Etsy or Facebook Hobonichi BST groups. You can often find a single Avec  book (Jan-Jun / Jul-Dec) in either the A6 or A5 size for lower cost. Some people also sell their lightly used planners if they decide it wasn’t for them. This is also where you’ll find a large community of used and collectible covers.