––You've brought five techo’s for us today.

OkiThree are my techos and two are my daughter’s. My daughter’s are filled with doodles though.

––How old is she?

OkiShe’s currently three, and will turn four this year.
(This interview was conducted in May 2019)

––Is this “daddy” you?

OkiYeah, she calls me that. Because the doodle wasn’t on the page she actually drew it, I wrote down what she drew as a memo on the page with the correct date.

––She drew a picture of you! She’s captured your features well.

OkiShe used to not be able to even draw glasses. This is what her drawings looked like last year.

––Wow, when you compare her drawings of when she’s two and three, it’s completely different.

OkiExactly. I realized that her drawings changed as she continues to draw in her techo. I didn’t know how it was going to go in the first year, but gradually, seeing how she drew circles more neatly than before, I realized her growth. The drawing of the bread you saw just now has changed this much.

––Wow! They’re completely different!

okiIt changes this much with just a year, so it’s fun to compare. My daughter does own a sketchbook, but you can keep a record if you write in a techo. With a sketchbook for scribbling, you’ll end up throwing it away after you draw.

––There’re a lot of drawings on the first page of the techo.

OkiThis is my daughter’s drawing of Mickey Mouse. She draws me something every year. This year, she drew my an egg and a hamburger.

––Ah, this is something that only a daughter her age can draw. Does she open a random page she likes and fill it in freely?

OkiI open the page of that day for her, and tell her she can draw if she wants. There are days when she draws on the page I opened for her, and days when she flicks to another page and draw. Oh, this is the Loch Ness Monster.

––She knows about Nessie at three!

OkiI told her about it, saying go check it out if it actually exists feeling excited.

––What a great relationship you have with your daughter. Do you manage your daughter’s Hobonichi Techo?

OkiI do keep the techo for her, but it’s in her reach too. When she says she wants to draw, or seems bored, I hand it to her saying “draw something before you sleep.” I do wish she draws everyday as much as she can, but there are days when she adamant on not drawing. On the other hand, there are days when she suddenly draws for ten pages. It’s been two years of going back and forth between these two phases. There were months when she didn’t draw anything, but even that stays as a record, so I kind of like it.

––The period of not drawing is also a record. Does your daughter already recognize that you’re on TV?

OkiI think she’s understood that I appear on TV as a job. She sometimes tells me that she saw me on screen.

––Do you write about your daughter in your own techo?

OkiI keep her growth records. Without having a habit to write in my techo, I think I’ll forget the things I want to remember. By just writing a little bit, I can remind myself of it later on.

––You do tend to forget about something without those small clues.

OkiExactly. It’s good that I write with my own handwriting. For example, I want to write down how my daughter said a certain word, in that characteristic way in which children can’t quite say it right. I write the closest sound to what my daughter said.

––I really understand this since I have a child too. When they start talking properly, you can’t hear that cute pronunciation anymore.

OkiThere was also a time when I was told from the doctor that I have gout, and came home dragging my feet. My daughter asked me what the matter was, and when I told her that my feet hurt, she stuck a bandaid on it. I peeled that bandaid later on and stuck it in my techo.

––What a cute episode!

OkiMy daughter also saw this page, and consistently asked me why I stuck it in here. But it’s something I’d never want to peel off.

––If you keep this techo, it’ll sure make you happy when you read back on it one day.

OkiI often bring this techo on my travels, and keep a diary of my family’s stay.

––You write when you travel, too.

OkiI never used to write in details of where I went during my travels, but it does make me happy later on when I write things in. There are definitely things that I tend to forget if I don’t do so. I don’t think I’d have written it down if I used my techo solely for work.