We asked 11 Hobonichi Techo users who gathered for the Nagano Meeting Caravan on why they use a techo.

There wasn’t one reason that fit everyone, but all answers were unique to that person; depending on their lifestyle and their personal likings.

We’re sure you’ll find a reason that you can relate to, or a reason you’ve never thought of.
We hope you can read along thinking of your reason while reading this article.

When I reject ideas that I once wrote down, with a smartphone, once I delete it, it’s all gone. But when I handwrite it, footprints of that idea remains. There are ideas in my planner that make me wonder “why did I turn this down?” and it’s those ideas that turn out to be important later on. So, it’s crucial to have footprints of ideas that were once rejected.

We are in an age where we write less by hand, but by writing by hand, I’m able to feel my personal growth. Looking back at my previous techos, I used to have messy handwriting, but it’s all neat now. I try to write neatly because I don’t want to read back on a techo that’s filled with messy handwriting. I’ve learnt to add illustrations, too. I write down the news and my thoughts on it, along with what I did that day, so there are footprints that reflect that time and that show my personal growth.

Workwise, I need to record a lot, so being able to compare with past recordings is my main reason. I also write about my hobbies: for example I jot down memos for the games I play. I like how I’m free to write anything in my techo.

In my previous workplace, I faced a computer all day long, and managed my schedule there too. However, I do feel that it’s more natural to write by hand, and the page per day makes it easy to manage all my to-do’s. I also love the daily quotes at the bottom of the page, and I’ll confess there were times when I pretended to work real hard but was actually reading these quotes. (Laughs)

I was searching for a techo and decided to use one by Hobonichi, in which I read a lot of articles from before. But my main reason now is that I can use my favorite MOTHER (EarthBound in North America) item. It’s rare that there are official goods from past video games, and it makes me happy to use its cover on my techo.

Smartphones are useful, but I don’t use it to manage my schedule. It’s much quicker for me to open my techo and write rather than using an app. I also like that there’s a page per day, and although there are days that are totally blank, because on other days i write down what happened that day, I know to simply look back at my techo to know what I did in the past.

I recently started using the Hobonichi Techo again, and realized how there’s the enjoyment of being able to create your own day. As I create my own day, I strongly started to feel that I need to treasure each one of them.

I think you’re less likely to read back on what you wrote on screen as to what you wrote on paper, and I feel there are definitely more opportunities to read back on my techo that I’ve gathered everything I like. My mother also keeps an agriculture diary, and to read back on what kind of processes she did when; I think it’s much easier to to that on paper.

Because I get bored easily, it’s quite hard for me to stick to a routine, but as I wrote everything that happened that day in my techo, I started to think that both the good and bad things that happen in life all have a meaning and help me grow as a person. It’s a tool to reflect upon myself. Also, I’ve posted pictures of my techo on social media that has lead me to meet stationery-related accounts, and pasted in photos I took on my smartphone to my techo, so you can say that I use my techo alongside my smartphone.

When I thought of why I was able to use the Hobonichi Techo for so long, I realized it was because it allows me to reflect upon myself by writing down my thoughts, my feelings, and what I thought was good. I also feel content having a cover I carefully chose for the year by my side.

Firstly, techo’s come in handy without electricity, especially when there’s a natural disaster. Also, I feel like I have to obey when I use devices if I’m too reliant on it. It’s easy to forget kanji’s unless I use my hands and write. I train and maintain my personal skills through the writing down by hand, and that’s why I continue to write in my techo.

To see how the users in Nagano use their techo, please click here (Article in Japanese)