Hello. I’m Wenlai from the Techo Team. It’s already the end of the year, isn’t it? Time really does fly.
In 2025, I used three techos. A HON for my diary, a Weeks for freely sticking things in and jotting notes, and, new to the lineup this year, an A5 Day-Free.



■Goal-tracking with the Day-Free

At the start of every year, I set goals. One of them this year was: “Tidy my room!” To be honest... I’m really bad at cleaning. When things are neat, I feel great—but once the clutter starts, my motivation sinks, and things pile up fast. So, in an attempt to fix the situation, I used my Day-Free to analyze what was going on and write down possible solutions in bullet points. This was back on January 25.



Wow... I was being very serious.
Before my initial burst of motivation faded, I tried to support it with logic and reason. Before we get to how it turned out, let me show you how I used my other techos.

■Keeping a diary with the HON

My A6 size HON is my diary. Most days, I fill the entire page with text, but I make a little extra effort to decorate the first page of each month.



September 1 is Hobonichi Techo release day. This year, starting the day before, we posted live updates in both Japanese and English for “Happy Hobonichi Day!” I printed out and pasted in a post from when the English translation team was getting fired up and ready.

■Stick, jot, anything goes in my Weeks

I use my Weeks most freely, without separating work and personal life.
I stick in wrapping paper, jot down passing thoughts, and write down little things people say to me.



One day, I was making a greeting card for someone important, enthusiastically using lots of washi tape. I left the opened tape packages and wrappers scattered across my desk and started snacking away.

Just then, Miyashita happened to walk by, took one look, and said: “Uh... it kind of looks like you’re eating washi tape.”

When I snapped back to reality, I realized he was right—my desk was such a mess that it really couldn't look any other way. Even slightly embarrassing moments like this become fond memories if you only write them down.



During summer vacation, we held a Kids Day workshop at the office, inviting the children of our crew members. We made handmade jellyfish together. This page shows some rough design sketches. I really do love making things.

■So... what happened with the cleaning?

I wrote this years goal into my Day-Free, now let’s check in at the 6 months point.



Ah... not great. Most of the goals were marked with × or △. And after that came the busy stretch leading up to the techo release...



Now fast forwarding to November 24. Somehow, I finally tidied up. In other words: just the other day. Something that would have taken only a few days if I had pulled my finger out, ended up taking almost a full year...

This time, I wrote about “Necessary things to help clean up.”
Since the Day-Free doesn’t have a fixed format and continues with graph pages, I used the TSUKI no IRO Sticky Notes (Frame) to create headings. Trying to plan in detail, writing things like “steps to become someone who cleans," didn’t work for me.

So I changed my approach and asked myself:“Why was I finally able to do something I’d struggled with for so long?” If I can recreate that same situation next time, maybe the hurdle will feel lower. Rather than pushing myself with a sense of obligation, it seems I’m better motivated by happy feelings and a sense of accomplishment.



I’m still very much in a process of trial and error, but by looking back through my techo from time to time, I hope I can keep growing—little by little.

Wishing all of you a wonderful 2026.

---Featured Items---

Techo & Covers
●Day-Free (A5)
●yuge fabric farm: Kagome Lattice Crest (A5)

Stationery
●TSUKI no IRO: Sticky Notes
●Clear Cover for Weeks

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