Hello everyone! I’m Iwasawa from the Techo Team. There’s only about half a month left in 2025. Since the weather stayed warm for so long this year, December crept up on me before I knew it. I keep thinking, “Wait, the year’s already ending?” and feeling a little flustered!
With that, let’s begin my Hobonichi Techo End of Year Reflection. These are the techos that ran alongside me all year long.


Weeks & HON for work / Cousin Avec & 5-Year Techo for personal use

This year, I thought I’d look back by giving my techos their own “Techo Awards.” To start is the “You Worked So Hard!” Award!
First up is the Weeks I used for work. From April through July, it was covered in sticky notes labeled things like “Techo Book Tasks” and “Techo Book Checks.”


One week’s page. Even the items without completion lines were all finished!

When working on the Hobonichi Techo Official Guidebook, there were so many tasks that I often found myself thinking, “What should I do next?” Each time, I’d write everything out, organize it, prepare, and repeat. Looking back, I can really see that process recorded in my techo. I hope everyone is enjoying the finished guidebook.

And one more “You Worked So Hard!” Award goes to this.


Smudged ink, misaligned stamps… I want to get better at this!

There are traces of stamp practice all over my HON and Weeks. I often need to stamp things during photo shoots, but I actually have a bit of a complex about stamping. Because of that, it looks like I practiced a lot beforehand.

Next up is the “So Many Memories!” Award!

My Cousin and 5-Year Techo are filled with records of trips and live shows. Let’s start with travel.


By coincidence, I visited a cat village in Taiwan on Cat Day.

This year took me to Niigata, Kyoto, Osaka, Nagano, and Kuroiso, as well as farther trips to Taiwan and Aomori. Leaving even small notes like this makes me happy every time I look back. It’s like reliving the fun again and again. Aomori, in particular, was so much fun that I wrote so much in my 5-Year Techo that I won’t have much space left on the right-hand pages in future years.


I couldn’t help but worry about everyone I’d met after the earthquake.

And of course, there were the live shows too.


Notes from attending a festival two days in a row.

Lately, I’ve been writing down set lists along with my live show memories, adding little notes about how I felt during certain songs. I love that writing down these small details helps preserve moments that might otherwise fade away.


It was so hot! But outdoor shows are so special.

Finally, the “Too Precious to Throw Away” Award.
This final award goes to sticky notes and memos I’ve received from other members of the Techo Team.


Just a few of what I have pasted into my techo.

Everyone on the team is so good at using sticky notes and memos. Looking back at them brings back all kinds of memories. They’re proof of how much we communicated and worked well together this year.

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Looking back, my goal for the year was “Give my all to both work and play!” and judging from my techos, it seems I managed to achieve that without even realizing it. Next year, I plan to enjoy myself just as much. Though there’s still a little more of this year left to push through!

The Hobonichi Techo End of Year Reflections continue, so please look forward to the next post.

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