Start of sales: November 1, 2019, at 11 AM Japan time.

The monthly techo Day-Free makes its debut in the Hobonichi Techo 2020 lineup!

On November 1st, an all-new monthly techo will join the Hobonichi Techo family. It’s the Day-Free, which combines a monthly calendar with a blank graph paper notebook.

The Hobonichi Techo team occasionally receives messages like these from users who currently use A6 Original or A5 Cousin techos with one page per day:
“The amount I write varies a lot from day to day, so I’m ignoring the dates as I go along.”
“It bothers me when I have blank daily pages.”
We wanted a way to make the techo easier to use for people in these situations, and came up with the idea for the Day-Free.

You may want
the Day-Free if:

  1. You want a portable book that’s slim and light!
  2. You want a techo with tons of memo pages!
  3. You want to try a Hobonichi Techo, but don’t want to commit to daily pages!
  4. You want a schedule book you can carry alongside your smartphone!
  5. You don’t mind digital, but you want to organize your thoughts by writing by hand!
  6. You want to take notes while looking at the schedule during meetings!

What kind of techo is the monthly techo notebook Day-Free?

Here’s a look at some of the features of the monthly techo notebook Day-Free, which combines a monthly calendar with lots of blank memo pages.

1An easy-to-use monthly calendar

The calendar is printed in two colors, charcoal gray and red, to make it easy on the eyes. The page is fully printed in a graph paper pattern for neatly writing out notes and plans.

2Plenty of graph paper note pages

Following the monthly calendar section, the techo has over 170 blank graph paper pages so users can check their schedule while taking lots of notes. The note pages contain Japanese daily quotes along the bottom.

2-1
The Hobonichi Techo’s characteristic Daily Quotes

Each page has fun and interesting daily quotes chosen from articles published on Hobo Nikkan Itoi Shinbun (Japanese only).

2-2
The enjoyment of a flipbook comic

The corner of the notebook pages contains a flipbook illustrated by Dwarf Studios animator Tsuneo Goda, who worked on NHK’s Domo-kun and Komaneko. The cute illustrations brighten up the book whether you’re flipping through it or seeing a drawing on each page as you write.

3A variety of covers

The Day-Free can be used with our Hobonichi Techo cover lineup, which includes around 70 styles. The covers are very convenient and come in a wide variety of designs and materials. You can choose which cover best suits your taste and needs.

around 70 styles

How can you use the Day-Free?

We had our crew give the Day-Free notebook a test run before launch date!
Here are some examples of how they found the Day-Free useful.

Writing endless work notesKatsumi

I use the Day-Free as one of my notebooks for work. I recently drew out some rough sketches of an upcoming photo shoot, and I was grateful for the ability to brainstorm how to set up the shoot and sketch things out without having to worry about how many pages I’m using. The notebook lets me write out the guidelines and schedule for the photo shoot, and the monthly calendar lets me track my work schedule. I think this could be a great idea book for me to use later on for new projects as I read back through old entries.

A book-reading notebookHoshino

I fill the blanks on the monthly calendar with the date and reason I buy new books. After I finish each one, I write my thoughts on it in the graph paper notebook pages. Ever since I turned my techo into a book-reading notebook, I’ve been having a great time watching the accumulation of all the books I read. I like having this overview because it can show me how my tastes have changed over time. Looking through the monthly calendar also shows me which books I’ve bought but haven’t yet read, which is helpful.

The perfect café diaryKomata

I love going to cafés! But of course, I don’t go every single day. The Day-Free seemed perfect for writing about the cafés I go to a few times a week, so I started writing entries and pasting in things like paper coasters and shop business cards. It’s nice being able to use as much space as I need for each entry. Right now I use the Hobonichi Techo Weeks most often, but this notebook is a great fit to keep as a café diary on the side.

使い方をもっと見る

Pairs well with another book!
The Day-Free for work, and the daily techo at home

The Day-Free is comfortably light for carrying around and has plenty of memo pages. The A6 daily Hobonichi Techo can sit out at home for filling with whatever you like.

day-Using a Day-Free with a Hobonichi Plain Notebook

The Day-Free already has plenty of memo pages, but if you want even more, you can supplement them with the Hobonichi Plain Notebook!

Hobonichi Plain Notebook

A short video to celebrate the release of the monthly techo notebook, Day-Free
Nice to meet you! I’m Day-Free.

Director, Character designer, Animator
Tsuneo Goda
Producer
Noriko Matsumoto
Text designer & Animatior
Tomomi Komazaki
Director of photography, Editor
Kan Sugiki
Music
Masashi Iino
Production manager
Momo Hiramatsu

Hobonichi Techo 2020 Day-Free

  • Monthly techo notebook
    Day-Free book
    A6 Size

    1,650 yen

    • Size: 105 × 148 mm / 4.1” x 5.8” (A6)
    • Monthly Calendar dates: December 2019 – March 2021
    • Page count: 240 pages (Graph paper notebook: 175 pages)
    • Thickness: 8 mm / 0.3”
    • Weight: 117 g / 4.1 oz

    Buy here

  • Monthly techo notebook
    Day-Free book
    A5 Size

    2,530 yen

    • Size: 148 × 210 mm / 5.8” x 8.3” (A5)
    • Monthly Calendar dates: December 2019 – March 2021
    • Page count: 224 pages (Graph paper notebook: 171 pages)
    • Thickness: 8 mm / 0.3”
    • Weight: 230 g / 8.1 oz

    Buy here