Hobonichi Stencils: Five Sets, Grid Size and Fit

The five Hobonichi stencil sets drawn to scale at 94 × 63 mm: Schedule, Basic, Activities, Travel and Speech Bubbles — The five sets at Hobonichi's 94 × 63 mm, drawn at 1 mm = 2.5 px; the cut-outs are drawn by eye. Original illustration made for this guide. © Stationery Times.

Product facts

Product: Hobonichi Stencils, Schedule set (also Basic, Activities, Travel and Speech Bubbles)
Brand: Hobonichi
Brand origin: Japan
Made in: Not stated^*
Material: Acrylic resin (Hobonichi)
Price range: $$$5–20 per item
Rate it: No ratings yet. Be the first to rate this product.

Notes on these facts

Made by Hobonichi Co., Ltd. (Tokyo). Country of manufacture not stated: Hobonichi's English and Japanese store pages don't state a country of origin, and Yoseka's listing doesn't either. Price: example listing.
How we test and disclose samples: How we test stationery.
Price bands are typical US retail, checked October 2026. Conversions to US dollars are approximate, at October 2026 rates (US$1 = ¥158 = ₩1,330 = NT$32.5 = CN¥6.7 = SEK 9.9 = DKK 6.7 = ₺49.6 = C$1.41 = A$1.43 = CZK 21.7; €1 = US$1.12; £1 = US$1.32; CHF 1 = US$1.21).

Key takeaways

Each stencil measures 94 × 63 × 0.5 mm, weighs about 3 g and is acrylic resin, per Hobonichi.
The five sets are Schedule, Basic, Activities, Travel and Speech Bubbles; Schedule has a 12 cm ruler.
The 3.7 mm grid matches the Japanese Original and Cousin; the English planner's 4 mm grid is slightly off.
Hobonichi Japan lists the stencils at ¥550 (about US$3.50) to ¥620 (about US$3.90) with tax; Yoseka listed the Schedule set at our $$ band ($5-20).
Hobonichi's Japanese store calls them templates, and lists Moomin and ONE PIECE editions at ¥720 (about US$4.60).

What are Hobonichi Stencils?

They are mini plastic templates for drawing neat marks in a planner. Hobonichi says they are designed to fit perfectly into planner cover pockets. You trace the icons, lines and boxes with a pen to lay out pages quickly and the same way each time.

They pair with the pencil board in a cover: the board protects the page below and the stencil guides your lines.

What are the five sets?

Schedule, Basic, Activities, Travel and Speech Bubbles. Hobonichi’s English page describes them like this.

Set	What it has
Schedule	12 cm ruler; icons for people, transport, birthdays and anniversaries; wavy and dotted lines; checkboxes
Basic	Squares for to-do checkboxes, stars, hearts, numbers
Activities	Vehicle, weather and smiley-face symbols
Travel	Outline of Japan, hot-spring and fireworks symbols, other travel icons
Speech Bubbles	Speech and thought bubbles

Hobonichi says the Schedule lines are the right height for the weekly pages of Weeks.

How big are they, and what is the grid?

Each is 94 × 63 × 0.5 mm, about 3 g, in acrylic resin, with a 3.7 mm grid on the face. That grid matches the 3.7 mm grid of the Japanese Original and Cousin pages. The English planner uses a 4 mm grid, so Hobonichi says the guide there is slightly off.

Two rows of tick marks to scale: the 3.7 mm stencil grid and the 4 mm English planner grid drifting 3 mm apart after ten squares — Pitch to scale at 1 mm = 10 px; the drift after ten squares is our arithmetic from Hobonichi's two figures. Original illustration made for this guide. © Stationery Times.

The English page doesn’t mention exceptions, but the Japanese page says the grid is on every template except the Plan, which is the Schedule set with the ruler. The Japanese page adds a scale up to 8 cm on the others, so they work as a thin ruler.

Are there other editions?

Yes: Hobonichi’s Japanese store lists Moomin and ONE PIECE templates at ¥720 (about US$4.60). We haven’t checked their contents or whether they match the five sets above. Our Hobonichi lineup guide explains the collaboration ranges.

Which set should you choose?

In our view, Schedule if you use Weeks, Basic if you want to-do boxes. Schedule’s lines are sized to the Weeks weekly layout and it doubles as a 12 cm ruler. Basic has the squares, stars, hearts and numbers that most people use first. Activities and Travel suit logs and trip pages, and Speech Bubbles suit journaling with a little humor.

Because each set is thin and the same size, you can keep two in a cover pocket. The grid on the stencil lets you line a shape up with the page grid, so a row of boxes sits evenly against the printed lines.

What can’t we tell you yet?

The exact cut-out shapes and sizes of each icon, and how well pen ink behaves on the acrylic. Hobonichi’s pages describe the icons in words and show them in photos, but give no sizes for them. Which set costs which price is also not stated. We haven’t traced with one yet.

Where is it made, and what does it cost?

We couldn’t find a country of origin on Hobonichi’s English or Japanese page, or on Yoseka’s. Hobonichi Japan lists the stencils at ¥550 (about US$3.50) to ¥620 (about US$3.90) with tax, depending on set; its pages don’t say which costs which.

Yoseka Stationery listed the Schedule set at US$9.00 on October 31, 2026, in our $$ band ($5-20). We haven’t checked Yoseka’s other sets, and our Techo system guide shows where stencils sit among the accessories.

Frequently asked questions

Do the stencils work with the English planner?

Hobonichi says yes, but its 4 mm grid is slightly off the stencils' 3.7 mm grid, so the grid guide won't line up exactly.

How thick are they?

0.5 mm, per Hobonichi. They are 94 mm high, 63 mm wide and about 3 g, which is why they fit in a cover pocket.

What does the Schedule set include?

A 12 cm ruler, icons for people and transport, marks for birthdays and anniversaries, and wavy and dotted lines and checkboxes, per Hobonichi.

Do all five sets have the grid?

Hobonichi's English page mentions the 3.7 mm grid without exceptions, but its Japanese page says every template except the Plan (Schedule) set has it. Check the pack.

What are the stencils made of?

Acrylic resin, per Hobonichi's specifications.

Are the stencils the same as the Hobonichi templates?

Yes, the same range under two names: Hobonichi's Japanese store calls them templates and its English page calls them stencils, with the same five sets.

Is there a ruler on them?

Yes. The Schedule set is a 12 cm ruler; the Japanese page says the other templates have a scale up to 8 cm.

Sources (3)

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