The planner features a format with a page devoted to each day. There’s lots of open space to plan the day ahead and enjoy recording your memories and activities. Think of the pages as containers for random ideas, with a clear record of the date. Paste magazine clippings, ticket stubs and photos to make the techo something completely unique ― your imagination is the only limit.

An illustration of the current moon phase is paired with the day of the year. The new moon (●) and full moon (○) symbols are surrounded by stars at their peak. (While the moon phase is the same across the world, the exact dates the moon phases land on are listed in Japan time.)

The date of the old Japanese lunisolar calendar is also included under the day’s date. This calendar was used in Japan until 1873, when Japan adopted the universal Gregorian calendar. Some days in this lunisolar calendar are specified as standard days signifying the changing of the seasons. We’ve also included solar terms based on this ancient calendar.

The to-do list is located at the top of the page with checkboxes for keeping track of your goals for the day.

Work and personal plans take place at different times of the day, so the planner uses a full 24-hour timetable to accommodate all schedules. Each hour is labeled with a dot, and every 30-minute mark is labeled with a line.

There’s also something we call the “Secret Line”: a vertical line that runs parallel along the right of the timetable. This separates the schedule on the left from the open memo pad on the right. We’ve printed it lightly enough that you can ignore it when using the page as a whole.

The Japanese planners have slightly smaller graph paper than the English version. The 3.7 millimeter graph paper was the result of extensive tests for an ideal size for writing in Japanese, although the size also allows comfortable writing in any language. Feel free to write along the lines of a single line or two ― or just ignore the lines altogether.

Japanese holidays are labeled in large letters on the page background and printed in a light ink to make it easy to write over them.

From the heartfelt to the humorous to the whimsical, each page of the planner features a quote in Japanese, specially selected from the planner’s parent site, Hobo Nikkan Itoi Shinbun. Currently, the quotes for the Cousin version are only in Japanese. If you would like the quotes in English, please buy the A6 Hobonichi Techo Planner.

Similar to a dictionary, each month is labeled with a different colored tab on the edge of the page for easy reference, even when the book is closed. It is easy to flip ahead to write future plans, or flip back to read old pages.

The daily page also includes a mini monthly calendar at the bottom right of every two-page spread. The dates of the current pages are outlined.

This warming-up page helps you get ready for the new year. It’s a great place to write your reflections on the past year, list your goals for the year ahead, copy down important information from last year’s planner, or do anything else you need to feel prepared.
The left and right corners of the page contain calendars for the two months surrounding the book’s initial start date.

We’ve included a page at the beginning of each month for highlighting important dates, making to-do lists, and writing other notes to help in planning ahead.



This section has been changed in 2019 to remove the writing lines and add a Japanese-language quote from literature and poetry.