*This is a re-edit of Hoshino’s Techo News from March 2020.

In 2019, I started to use the Weeks book for the first time. I use it as a "cultural techo.”

… Some of you may be confused as to what I exactly mean by it. Basically, it’s a techo where I keep a record of the books I read, movies I saw and exhibitions I went to (and occasionally some other stuff).

Let me talk you through my techo.

[The reason why I started to use it]
I started using the Weeks book in this way because I wanted to look back on that year by reflecting on the things I saw and how I felt about it.

I used to write a diary in the A6 Original techo, but because I switched to the 5-Year Techo, I was in need of a place to paste tickets and small bits and pieces, so that would be another reason why,

[Why I chose the Weeks]
I decided to go for the Weeks when a techo user once told me how they could paste in tickets without having to fold them in the Weeks because of its vertically narrow shape.

I planned on pasting in loads from the start, so I chose “White Line” with a soft front cover. This way, I don’t have to worry even if the book puffs up.


The Weeks book after being used for a year. It has puffed up quite a lot.

[How I use it]
There’s nothing special in the way I use it, but I chose to write the title of the piece and my quick thoughts on it on the left page, and paste tickets, sleeves of the books I bought, and cutouts of newspaper book reviews on the right page.




My reviews are really quick and easy.




An article introducing a novel based on Bunraku (traditional Japanese puppet theatre), a ticket of Bunraku I went to because of the novel and my thoughts on it.

I use the memo pages towards the back of the book to paste newspaper cutouts that I was moved by and other things I’d want to see multiple times throughout the year.




I paste large newspaper articles by folding them.

[What I found interesting]
Because the Weeks layout allows me to see a record of a week's worth, I found it interesting how I can see how my thoughts developed through the books and exhibitions I read and saw.

For example,



April 29
I ate Czech cuisine to discuss a Dashenka cover. (The restaurant's name was Dasehnka too!)

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April 30
I bought books by Dashenka's author Karel Capek that someone told me during the meeting.
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May 1
I bought a book by Mari Yonehara, a Russian translator and author who had lived in Czechoslovakia before. I became interested in Czech and Russian dishes that appeared a lot in her book.
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May 10
I bought Yonehara's book, which is a collection of essays written on the topic of food. I loved the design of the book cover and checked the credits to find out it was Shinbo Minami's work. It reminded me of a book written by Minami named "Soutei (bookbinding) that I read during high school.
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June 1
I ended up buying "Soutei." It had been 10 years since I last read it. It was fresh to read even now, and I reminisced on when I read it for the first time and it made me happy.

… Like this, I'm able to keep track of how I chose a book, a bit like a word association game. Now I don't have to feel frustrated not being able to remember why I chose to read a particular book. It's a record that would only be meaningful for me, but I mean, techo's are for yourself isn't it?

[Other fun things]
I occasionally pasted chopstick bags from the bento’s I ate when going to a concert, or packages of items I bought at exhibitions too.


Chopstick bag of a Sukiyaki bento I ate.


The name of the socks I bought was funny.

It's fun how I can remember small things like how I saw Mt. Fuji from the bullet train I was on to head to a concert while eating a Sukiyaki bento, or how I bought "Ancient Microbes Socks" at the National Museum of Nature and Science to see their dinosaur exhibition.


I also pasted a sticky note memo that came with a book I borrowed.

[My thought after using it for a year]
Because the space in which you can write everyday is compact in the Weeks, my reflections ended up being short. But I think this was the key, as I was able to continue writing in it feeling relaxed.

By just writing a short sentence, I was able to remind myself where I was attracted to in a piece and my thought process of when I was reading a book. It also came in handy when I wanted to talk about a certain piece to someone.

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