Hobonichi 2026 Preview Days 2–4
Day 2: What is the Hobonichi Techo?
- As usual, was most concerned about any statement on the 2026 Tomoe River Paper S.
About the paper for the 2026 edition
Each year, we collaborate with the paper company that makes Tomoe River paper—as well as the printing company in charge of printing and binding—to make various adjustments to things like the way the paper feels to write on, and the durability of the book binding.
For the paper used in the 2025 edition we released last year, we heard from a number of users who experienced ink bleed-through on the other side of the paper.
We immediately contacted both the paper and printing company in order to investigate, and carefully reviewed the situation. We confirmed that the paper was manufactured within long-time established quality control standards.
But the fact remained that customers were contacting us with concerns about the ink bleeding through the paper, and feeling disappointed in their experience with their techos, which we take very seriously.
For the 2026 edition, we worked closely with our partners to make thoughtful adjustments to the paper in order to minimize ink bleed-through as much as possible, while preserving the unique characteristics of Tomoe River paper that so many users love. There’s a delicate balance to the Tomoe River paper’s characteristics of being thin yet sturdy, and smooth to write on. We did our best to maintain this balance while responding to the concerns we heard from our users.
At the same time, we kindly ask for your understanding that the feel of the paper will vary across different writing instruments and the environment in which it is used, and that there may be some very slight differences between paper manufactured across different production runs.
We have always strived to create a techo that everyone can enjoy and we will continue to dedicate ourselves to this. If you notice anything that concerns you with the new Tomoe River paper, we would love it if you could let us know.
Thank you for using the Hobonichi Techo.
Wonder what they did differently with the paper in 2025 (as compared to 2024); and their insistence that the paper was manufactured according to standards. So did something else go wrong? Storage?
Using one Cousin (spring-start), one A6 Hon, two Weeks (one spring-start) and one Weeks Mega this year and only the Hon's paper was fine with fountain pens. Ironic since I don't usually use fountain pens with the Hon (and the Weeks Mega).
Day 3: Introduction to Techo Types
Interesting that after scoffing at the Hon when they first released them, I'm gravitating to them now.
Sad that they aren't bringing back the corner illustrations for the Day-free.
Are they going into social media platforms or something? (No mention of being able to share the digital entries though.) Also not sure how it can be sustainable.
Concerning that the app seems to pull your data like photos, calendar, location, health, etc. Yes, they use it to capture your day. But in this day and age....
But okay, could be useful for looking back on when you have nothing to write for your techo?