Best Laid Plans

Ep 109: Hobonichi 2023 Deep Dive!

August 29, 2022

Every year I get excited for this, but certain 2023 announcements have taken it to another level for me this year, particularly the release of the English Cousin!

Episode Highlights:

Prelude – Planner Peace from Sarah K – Hobonichi!

Sarah K is a busy attorney and loves using Hobonichi for the convenience of having daily / weekly / monthly pages in one portable book! Here are the pix she sent in — LOVE THESE!

monthly
weeky – how much do I love “lady of leisure” at the bottom!?
her daily template

1- My personal history with the brand. I’ve been on-again, off-again since 2014 — and currently back in my 2022 Cousin! Yes, I guess I’ve come full circle this year. Yes, there has been a LOT of planner hopping for me this year. There are some reasons for this which perhaps I’ll address tomorrow.

2- Current lineup & changes. The biggest change – as I mentioned – is the English language version of the Cousin and Weeks this year. I am thrilled and can’t wait to see it in person.

3- Shopping at the site. I promise, it’s not that intimidating! Sales start Sept 1st 11 am Japan time, which is 10 pm August 31. The site is here – right now you can browse but will have to wait until 2023 to “add to cart”. Prices are in yen (as of this moment, 1 yen = $0.0072 USD which is lower than it has been in years to my memory) but it is otherwise in English!

4- My purchasing plans. Well, I’m kind of undecided. I was thinking Velluto but am now ogling the Glitter Leather on a daily basis. This is quite expensive but I think perhaps fancy planner covers are my jewelry/designer handbag equivalent!

OMG pretty

5- Changes to the paper. The paper will stay THE SAME for 2023, but next year will change to the new “Sanzen Tomoe River Paper”. The cool part is that each planner shipped will come with a sample page so we can experience next year’s paper now! I will do a full on pen test and share.

MORE next week! I had promised a guest episode but sadly that guest fell through (hopefully she will still come on eventually!) and I was inspired by today’s Deep Questions ep (#211) to attempt to record a succinct overview of my own big picture organizational system.


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16 Comments

  • Reply Janna G August 29, 2022 at 9:55 am

    Hi! Thanks for this s
    Great episode! At the top you mentioned Sarah’s Planner Peace and said you’d post photos of her Hobonichi in the show notes – but they aren’t here. I love to see others’ layouts and planners, especially “normal” people. 🙂
    Anyway, am I missing something? Thanks!!!

    • Reply Sarah Hart-Unger August 29, 2022 at 9:59 am

      Ahhhh I totally forgot and was very behind today! Will feature Sarah’s stuff tomorrow and addend the post 🙂

      • Reply Sarah K September 1, 2022 at 2:15 pm

        So glad people are enjoying the photos. My “Lady of Leisure” week was one of the two weeks I had between jobs this year. I think I am ready for retirement! (Only about 22 more years to go.)

  • Reply Lisa of Lisa's Yarns August 29, 2022 at 1:33 pm

    You are remembering correctly about the conversion being better than it has been in the past. It looks like the USD/Yen conversion is the best for the USD in a long time!

    I use W222 w/ also uses the Tomoe River paper. I wonder if it will go to the same alternative as the Hobonichi products. They didn’t say anything about the paper in their release notes about the 2023 planner. I love that Hobonichi is giving you a sample of the new paper.

  • Reply Kathy August 29, 2022 at 10:33 pm

    Thanks for the great episode! The Hobonichi is working beautifully for me this year. In regards to converting prices from yen to a different currency, the website now has that functionality built in. Go to the store, then click the menu. A new toolbar will appear at the top of the website showing Shopping Instructions, FAQs, etc, as well as a place to set the currency. You can pick from about nine different currencies, and the website will show the prices using whatever currency you choose.

  • Reply Alyce August 30, 2022 at 8:17 am

    I’m ready to go back to hobonichi next year. I got a hemlock and oak undated weekly to go with my full focus, and it’s immediately obvious that I hate being in two planners. And I also really do need to set weekly to dos as well as daily to dos. Weekly goal setting is where I think about making progress on longer term goals. The full focus daily layout is great, but I can recreate it on my own within the Hobonichi. I’m leaning towards the anemone cover. I’ve been waiting for the right mina perhonen cover for me, and I think this one may be the one!

    • Reply Sarah Hart-Unger August 30, 2022 at 8:26 am

      I also love the FF and H and O combo but am so happy to be back in one book. I also loooove the anenome cover and am thinking of getting one in A6 with a day free to use for lists and notes this year.

  • Reply Lisa S. August 30, 2022 at 9:57 pm

    I’m super curious to try the new English Cousin but I don’t use a weekly page in the format (I prefer a weekly goals type sheet because I time track digitally). I’ve used the Avec and Day Free in the past which both also have pros and cons.

  • Reply Alyssa August 31, 2022 at 10:05 pm

    Big Hobonichi fan here! Can I ask where Sarah K. got the super cute yellow page clip?

    • Reply Sarah K September 1, 2022 at 2:14 pm

      that’s an Oliclip!

  • Reply Charlotte September 1, 2022 at 6:27 pm

    Got my A6 5 Year Techo with the Search and Collect cover direct from Hobonichi today! Amazingly, it was much cheaper (even including shipping) than Jet Pens is selling it for.

    About $109 direct from Hobonichi (including shipping) compared to $137 at JetPens. I live in MA for reference.

    So make sure you check the final price from Hobonichi before deciding where to order, depending on what you are getting.

    • Reply Sarah Hart-Unger September 1, 2022 at 7:15 pm

      Yes! The exchange rate was favorable to US this year. I always order from hobonichi bc I want the pen and also because it’s just a special yearly ritual! Have not missed a year since 2014!

  • Reply Kinsey September 2, 2022 at 1:58 pm

    I bought the spring hobonichi this year, so my current one goes through March 2023, and I’m trying to decide if I keep using it that long or but a new one to start in January.

  • Reply J September 5, 2022 at 7:52 am

    What did you get???

    • Reply Sarah Hart-Unger September 5, 2022 at 9:27 am

      Will share when it comes 🙂 🙂 🙂 what did you get??

  • Reply Anupama December 26, 2022 at 10:36 pm

    This was so fun to listen to with my son as we drove him off to college! We looked at the planners at the college bookstore and they were bleah. No vertical weekly layouts. I still haven’t seen a Hobonichi in real life…

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