My Hobonichi 2026 order

I only started using Hobonichi planners in 2024, and quickly fell in love with the brand. I'm now a loyal customer, even though the 2025 paper has its issues when you use fountain pens on it (ink feathers in random places for me).

If you're like, wtf is a Hobonichi, read this first.

This year I firmly established the daily journaling habit, and I'm planning to extend it next year. I notice a ton of mental benefits from writing by hand, and I feel like I can get more benefits by focusing on journaling/planning for specific goals. Nothing stops me from using non-Hobonichi planners or plain notebooks, but the spreads in their different types of planners are just super handy in my opinion.

Let's go over the contents of my order now!

My order and the intended use for each item

First up, we got the Original A6 planner with a Mystic Berry cover.

I will use this as a work planner. I juggle three different jobs plus my orchestra board work, so I need enough space per day to write down my tasks. This year I used a Weeks as my work planner, and I find that there's not enough room to write down what I want. I end up needing extra Rhodia pads to jot down tasks, but those stay at home and I prefer to have all my planning papers with me.

The dark blue cover looks professional enough in my eyes, and I will bring this planner everywhere I go!

Next up, we got the A5 Cousin. This is a repeat purchase, and this has been my main Hobonichi book this year. The Cousin is mainly used as a diary in my case, and I love it for that. When I only want to write, the A5 page provides plenty of space. When I want to mess around with washi tape, markers and stickers, idem. In the beginning I struggled with the Weekly pages, but I found a use for those in the end (tracking what I read, watch and game). The Cousin is really great if you want to write a lot, plan a lot, and track a lot. But I don't use it as a planner, as it is too bulky to take with me!

Then, I bought three (!) Weeks.

First one: Yuichi Inoue's Amenimo Makezu. This will be used as a family planner. Oliver and I sit down once a week to plan our evening meals for the next 7 days. We also take this time to figure out if we have appointments that prevent us or one of us from eating at home, and what we will do together as a fun outing. The weekly overview is therefore perfect for us. The meals can go on the left page, while the appointments and fun dates can go on the right hand side.

I will use the blank pages in the back of this Weeks to write down our favourite recipes, ideas for day trips, and other things we want to do together.

The second Weeks I ordered is a gift for my mother, iyo okumi's A Story About Me. My mother used to do embroidery when she was younger, so she liked the look of this Weeks. I am giving this to her for her birthday.

Lastly in the Weeks category, the Tamagotchi themed Weeks! This will be my health & mental health journal: I am my own tamagotchi that needs to be kept alive, you know.

As I am slowly getting closer to perimenopause territory in my life, I feel it is prudent to keep a closer eye on my health. I am going to log my strength and cardio workouts in this book, together with healthy habits. I will also note down if I feel extremely out of the ordinary, mentally (this can go either direction, extremely good days are also suspect lol) or physically.

Next up, we have the 5-year techo in A5 size. I don't think I will manage to write in this one every day, I think I will backfill this once per week. I aim to write about my highlight of each day, and it'll be fun to look back on what I did in the past years when it's like 2027-2028. I have no clue yet what I am going to be doing with the blank page on the right, ideas are welcome!

Overextending my writing habit?

Even though I write by hand a lot compared to most people, I feel I could get more (mental) benefits from writing even more. But it might be overreaching, what I have ordered for 2026. The work planner, the diary, the health journal, the family journal AND the 5-year journal. I feel like I can do it without getting bored or fed up, but only time will tell.

And oh yeah, this stuff ain't cheap. With shipping included, I ended up paying almost €300 for this order. I see it as an investment for my mental health and writing hobby, but your opinion may differ.

Anyway, that's my order for 2026. Did you get anything from Hobonichi for 2026? Or had you never heard of the brand before?