--- title: "KOKUYO Jibun Techo IDEA: Carry-Over Grid Memo Booklet" canonical: "https://stationerytimes.com/guides/kokuyo-jibun-techo-idea/" description: "KOKUYO Jibun Techo IDEA explained: a 40-sheet grid memo book on THIN PAPER that carries over to next year, in two sizes, with yen prices and fit." category: "Notebooks" type: "Memo booklet" published: 2026-10-31 updated: 2026-10-31 author: "Ellis Penhale" publisher: "Stationery Times" sources: 1 products: - name: "KOKUYO Jibun Techo IDEA, A5 Slim two-pack and mini B6 Slim, 40 sheets" brand: "KOKUYO" brand_origin: "Japan" made_in: "Not stated" material: "THIN PAPER, grid ruling" price_band: "$ (under $5 per notebook, typical US retail, October 2026)" manufacturer: "KOKUYO Co., Ltd. (Osaka)" model: "Jibun Techo IDEA" url: "https://www.kokuyo.com/en/stationery/series/jibun-techo/idea/" --- # KOKUYO Jibun Techo IDEA: Carry-Over Grid Memo Booklet > The KOKUYO Jibun Techo IDEA is a separate memo booklet of 40 sheets with a grid ruling and a vertical guide line, meant to sit alongside the DIARY and carry over into next year's book. It uses THIN PAPER. The A5 Slim comes as a pack of two for 780 yen (about US$4.94), and the mini B6 Slim single is 740 yen. - URL: https://stationerytimes.com/guides/kokuyo-jibun-techo-idea/ - Category: Notebooks - Author: Ellis Penhale - Published: 2026-10-31 - Updated: 2026-10-31 ![KOKUYO Jibun Techo IDEA memo booklet drawn to scale: closed, open on its grid pages with a vertical guide line, and the smaller mini B6 Slim](https://stationerytimes.com/images/raster/kokuyo-jibun-techo-idea-illustration-16x9.png?v=cefaa069) *The IDEA booklet closed and open on its grid pages, beside the mini (1 mm = 1 px).* Original illustration made for this guide. © Stationery Times. Original drawing (SVG): . Drawings © 2026 Stationery Times, reusable with credit under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). ## Product facts | Product | Brand | Brand origin | Made in | Material | Released | Price range (typical US retail, October 2026) | |---|---|---|---|---|---|---| | KOKUYO Jibun Techo IDEA, A5 Slim two-pack and mini B6 Slim, 40 sheets | KOKUYO (by KOKUYO Co., Ltd. (Osaka)) | Japan | Not stated | THIN PAPER, grid ruling | – | $: under $5 per notebook | - Made in (KOKUYO Jibun Techo IDEA, A5 Slim two-pack and mini B6 Slim, 40 sheets): Not stated. KOKUYO's Jibun Techo series page for this item gives no country of manufacture; the related DIARY and Biz are listed as made in Japan on KOKUYO's global store, but we did not find the same for this item. ## Key takeaways - It is a 40-sheet grid memo book kept separate from the DIARY so its notes carry over to the next year. - It comes with the First Kit, and can be added to the Standard and Biz; it cannot be set into the Lite or DAYs. - The pages use THIN PAPER and a grid with a vertical guide line, suited to diaries, recipes or minutes. - Listed prices: A5 Slim two-pack 780 yen and mini B6 Slim single 740 yen. - KOKUYO suggests diaries, idea notes, collection lists, reading notes, sketches and minutes, and gives no country of manufacture. ## What is the Jibun Techo IDEA? **It is the memo book that outlives the diary.** KOKUYO says that by keeping a separate memo book, IDEA, alongside the DIARY, your notes can carry over to the next year. The booklet is 40 sheets on THIN PAPER with a grid ruling. ## How is the page ruled? **With a grid and a vertical guide line.** KOKUYO's page says the guide makes it easy to write, and suggests writing the date and title on the left of the vertical line for a diary so it is easy to search later. KOKUYO suggests diaries, idea notes, collection lists, reading notes, sketch notes and meeting minutes. ## Which planners take it? **First Kit, Standard and Biz.** It comes with the [First Kit](https://stationerytimes.com/guides/kokuyo-jibun-techo-first-kit/), can be bought separately for the Standard DIARY and the [Biz](https://stationerytimes.com/guides/kokuyo-jibun-techo-biz-2027/), and cannot be set into the [Lite](https://stationerytimes.com/guides/kokuyo-jibun-techo-lite-2027/) or [DAYs](https://stationerytimes.com/guides/kokuyo-jibun-techo-days-2027/). ## What does it cost? **780 yen for two A5 Slim booklets.** KOKUYO lists: | Version | Contents | Listed price | |---|---|---| | A5 Slim | 2 booklets, 40 sheets each | 780 yen (about US$4.94) | | mini B6 Slim | 1 booklet, 40 sheets | 740 yen (about US$4.68) | By our arithmetic the A5 Slim works out to 390 yen a booklet, which is just over half the price of the mini single. ## What paper is it? **THIN PAPER**, which KOKUYO says is thin and light, does not bleed through, and does not wrinkle under an erasable ballpoint pen. ## How does it differ from LIFE? **IDEA is for loose notes and LIFE is for life records.** The [LIFE booklet](https://stationerytimes.com/guides/kokuyo-jibun-techo-life/) is a pre-printed set of life-planning pages on MIO PAPER, where IDEA is a blank grid. ## How does it fit the Jibun Techo family? **It is one of seven lines that share a design.** KOKUYO's series page lists the Standard, Biz, Lite, DAYs and First Kit planners plus the LIFE and IDEA booklets. It says the Jibun Techo was developed over many years by an advertising creative and won a Good Design Award in 2014, and that pairing LIFE and IDEA with the DIARY is meant to turn a one-year book into one for life. Our guide to the 2027 edition says it went on sale from mid-September 2026. ## Where can you buy it? **KOKUYO points to its own and big retail shops.** The series page links KOKUYO's official online stationery shop, Amazon, Rakuten, Kaunet and KOKUYO's official global online store. Prices on this page are the yen prices on KOKUYO's series page at 158 yen to the dollar, so overseas retailers will charge more. ## What should you check before buying? **The year, the size and the version.** These are 2027 products, so they are dated books. Check that the size (A5 Slim or mini B6 Slim) matches your cover and that the version takes any booklet you plan to add. KOKUYO says the Lite and DAYs cannot take LIFE or IDEA. We have not used any of these books, so the layouts here are KOKUYO's descriptions, not our test results. ## Where is it made, and what does it cost? **KOKUYO's series page doesn't say.** The A5 Slim two-pack at 780 yen (about US$4.94) is in our $ band (under $5). Our [KOKUYO Jibun Techo 2027 DIARY guide](https://stationerytimes.com/guides/kokuyo-jibun-techo-diary-2027/) covers the Standard book, the [First Kit guide](https://stationerytimes.com/guides/kokuyo-jibun-techo-first-kit/) covers the three-book set, and [Hobonichi Techo vs Jibun Techo](https://stationerytimes.com/guides/hobonichi-techo-vs-jibun-techo/) compares the two planner families. ## Frequently asked questions ### What is IDEA? A memo booklet kept separate from the DIARY so it can carry over to next year, per KOKUYO. ### How many sheets? 40 sheets. ### What is the ruling? A grid with a vertical guide line; KOKUYO suggests writing the date and title to the left of the line. ### Which books does it go in? It comes with the First Kit and can be set into the Standard and Biz, but not the Lite or DAYs. ### How much is it? 780 yen for the A5 Slim two-pack and 740 yen for the mini B6 Slim single. ### Which paper is used? THIN PAPER. ### What can I use it for? Diary, recipes, minutes, collection lists, reading notes and sketches, among other uses KOKUYO lists. ## Sources - [KOKUYO: Jibun Techo IDEA series page (features, contents, variations, listed prices; read October 31, 2026)](https://www.kokuyo.com/en/stationery/series/jibun-techo/idea/)