--- title: "Hobonichi History: Itoi's Website to the Techo" canonical: "https://stationerytimes.com/stories/hobonichi-history/" description: "What Hobonichi is and who makes the Hobonichi Techo: Shigesato Itoi's 1998 website, the first Techo of 2001, Cousin, Weeks, Tomoe River S and its IR figures." category: "Stories" published: 2026-10-21 updated: 2026-10-21 author: "Ellis Penhale" publisher: "Stationery Times" sources: 6 organizations: - name: "Hobonichi Co., Ltd." country: "Japan" founded: "1979-12-24" brands: ["Hobonichi"] source: "https://www.hobonichi.co.jp/company/about.html" --- # Hobonichi History: Itoi's Website to the Techo > Hobonichi is a Tokyo company founded by copywriter Shigesato Itoi, best known for its website Hobo Nikkan Itoi Shinbun (1998) and the Hobonichi Techo planner. Hobonichi designs and sells the Techo itself; the first edition went on sale on October 5, 2001. The company is listed in Tokyo and is not owned by a larger group. - URL: https://stationerytimes.com/stories/hobonichi-history/ - Category: Stories - Author: Ellis Penhale - Published: 2026-10-21 - Updated: 2026-10-21 ![An open A6 Hobonichi planner beside a bar chart of copies printed per edition from 2002 to 2026](https://stationerytimes.com/images/raster/hobonichi-history-16x9.png) *Hobonichi Techo copies per edition, from Hobonichi's own history page and its 2026 results.* Original drawing (SVG): . Drawings © 2026 Stationery Times, reusable with credit under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). ## Key takeaways - Itoi's office was founded on December 24, 1979, launched the website Hobo Nikkan Itoi Shinbun in June 1998 and took the name Hobonichi Co., Ltd. in December 2016. - The first Hobonichi Techo, the 2002 edition, went on sale on October 5, 2001 in a run of 12,000 copies, after about 700 readers emailed that they wanted one. - The A5 Cousin arrived with the 2009 edition and the slim weekly Weeks with the 2011 edition; Hobonichi switched its planner paper to Sanzen's Tomoe River S from the 2024 edition. - Hobonichi printed 960,000 copies of the 2025 Techo, and its results for the year to August 2026 report a record 1.14 million sold, about 100 times the first run. - In the year to August 2026 the Techo brought in 7,949 million yen (about US$50 million), 74.1% of Hobonichi's sales, and 57.5% of Techo sales came from outside Japan. The Hobonichi Techo is one of the few planners with a cult following on several continents. It came out of a website, not a stationery company. Below is Hobonichi's history from its own Japanese pages and its investor-relations filings, translated by us. ## What is Hobonichi and who makes the Hobonichi Techo? **Hobonichi is the Tokyo company of copywriter Shigesato Itoi, built around his website Hobo Nikkan Itoi Shinbun, and it plans, designs and sells the Hobonichi Techo itself.** Its Japanese company profile lists the Techo, the Hobonichi Earth Ball and apps such as Hobonichi no Gakko among its businesses; Itoi is chairman and Ayako Koizumi president. Hobonichi is listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange (Standard market, code 3560) and is not part of a larger group. The Techo is by far its biggest product: in the year to August 2026 it brought in 7,949 million yen (about US$50 million), or 74.1% of Hobonichi's sales of 10,722 million yen (about US$68 million). ## Hobonichi timeline: 1979 to 2026 **The company is older than the website, and the website is older than the Techo.** Dates come from Hobonichi's corporate history and its Techo history page. | Date | Event | Source | |---|---|---| | December 24, 1979 | Tokyo Itoi Shigesato Office founded as a limited company | Hobonichi profile and history | | June 1998 | Website Hobo Nikkan Itoi Shinbun launched | Hobonichi history | | Spring 2001 | Planner idea raised at a goods meeting; about 700 readers say they want one | Techo history | | October 5, 2001 | First Techo (2002 edition) on sale; 12,000 copies | Techo history | | October 2002 | Office becomes a joint-stock company | Hobonichi history | | September 7, 2004 | 2005 edition; Loft stores start selling the Techo | Techo history | | September 1, 2008 | 2009 edition: the A5 Cousin is born | Techo history | | September 1, 2010 | 2011 edition: the weekly Weeks is born | Techo history | | December 2016 | Company renamed Hobonichi Co., Ltd. | Hobonichi history | | March 16, 2017 | Listed on the TSE JASDAQ market (now Standard) | Hobonichi stock information | | September 1, 2017 | 2018 edition; 5-Year Techo introduced | Techo history | | September 1, 2023 | 2024 edition: English Original; paper changes to Tomoe River S | Techo history; Hobonichi | | Year to August 2026 | Record 1.14 million Techos sold | Hobonichi results | ## Who is Shigesato Itoi? **A Japanese copywriter who founded his own office in 1979 and started Hobo Nikkan Itoi Shinbun in 1998.** Hobonichi's corporate history begins on December 24, 1979, when the Tokyo Itoi Shigesato Office was set up as a limited company (有限会社); it became a joint-stock company in October 2002. The website, launched in June 1998, gave the company its later name: "Hobonichi" is short for Hobo Nikkan Itoi Shinbun, roughly "the almost-daily Itoi newspaper". The office took the name Hobonichi Co., Ltd. in December 2016. Itoi also designed the MOTHER video game series, and Hobonichi has sold MOTHER-themed Techo covers every year since the 2015 edition. ## When did the first Hobonichi Techo come out? **On October 5, 2001, as the 2002 edition, in a run of 12,000 copies.** Hobonichi's Techo history says the idea came up at a meeting about original goods in spring 2001. When the site asked readers whether they wanted such a planner, about 700 emails said yes, and the team decided to make it. Many of today's features were already there: paperback (A6) size, one page per day, thin but strong Tomoe River paper, a binding that opens flat to 180 degrees, a grid layout, a different color for each month and a quote at the foot of each page. The cover was navy nylon with two bookmarks. The first edition sold well enough that in April 2002 Hobonichi decided to make a 2003 edition, released on October 16, 2002 with four cover colors and a grid enlarged from 3 mm to 4 mm. The current grid of 3.7 mm dates from the 2010 edition, after reader surveys; our [Hobonichi Techo Original](https://stationerytimes.com/guides/hobonichi-techo-original/) guide covers today's book. ## How did the Techo grow? **Mostly through stores and new formats: Loft from 2004, the Cousin in 2008 and the Weeks in 2010.** The history page says the 2005 edition was the first sold in Loft stores: a Hobonichi staffer hoped Loft would take about 500, Loft asked for 15,000, and Hobonichi delivered 17,000. Print runs grew from 12,000 for the 2002 edition to 70,000 for 2005, 280,000 for 2009 and 400,000 for 2011. Hobonichi gives 780,000 copies for the 2018 edition, a dip to 720,000 for 2022, and 960,000 for 2025. The 2018 edition, sold from September 1, 2017, also introduced the [Hobonichi 5-Year Techo](https://stationerytimes.com/guides/hobonichi-5-year-techo/). An English "Planner" designed with Sonya Park of Arts and Science arrived with the 2013 edition, and an English version of the Original itself with the 2024 edition. ## When did the Cousin and Weeks start? **The A5 Cousin arrived with the 2009 edition and the Weeks with the 2011 edition.** Hobonichi says the [Cousin](https://stationerytimes.com/guides/hobonichi-cousin/) answered complaints that the Techo was heavy: the idea was that a deliberately bigger, heavier book would make the Original feel light by comparison. The first Cousin had no daily quotes, so that owners could fill every corner. The [Weeks](https://stationerytimes.com/guides/hobonichi-weeks/) came in the Techo's tenth year, aimed at business users, in a slim wallet size with a 3.45 mm grid and a single "White Line" design. Hobonichi says that design came from a misunderstanding: Itoi took a white space in designer Taku Satoh's rough for a white line and liked it. ## What paper does the Hobonichi Techo use? **Tomoe River, from the first edition in 2001, and Tomoe River S, made by Sanzen Paper, from the 2024 edition.** Hobonichi's Techo magazine announced that the planner paper would change with the Hobonichi Techo 2024, to the new Tomoe River S made by Sanzen. The change followed the end of production at Tomoegawa, the paper's original maker. Our [Tomoe River paper story](https://stationerytimes.com/stories/tomoe-river-paper-story/) covers that handover, Hobonichi's stockpile of the old paper and how the two papers compare. ## How big is the Hobonichi Techo business now? **Bigger than ever, and now mostly sold abroad.** Hobonichi's results presentation for the year to August 2026 says Techo sales rose 35.9% to 7,949 million yen (about US$50 million) and that a record 1.14 million copies were sold, about 100 times the first run. Overseas Techo sales grew 48.8% to 4,571 million yen (about US$29 million), 57.5% of the total. North and Central America accounted for 3,065 million yen (about US$19 million) and Europe for 825 million yen (about US$5.2 million); Japan was 3,377 million yen (about US$21 million). ## What couldn't we confirm? **Hobonichi's pages we read don't say who prints and binds the current Techo or name its largest shareholders.** We also found no Hobonichi page that states the print run of the 2026 edition; the 1.14 million figure is sales for the business year, from the results presentation. The history page lists copies printed (発行部数) per edition, while the 2026 results give copies sold (販売部数). We keep the two figures separate. ## Frequently asked questions ### What does Hobonichi mean? It is short for Hobo Nikkan Itoi Shinbun (ほぼ日刊イトイ新聞), roughly "the almost-daily Itoi newspaper", the website Shigesato Itoi started in June 1998. The company took the name Hobonichi Co., Ltd. in December 2016. ### Who makes the Hobonichi Techo? Hobonichi Co., Ltd. of Tokyo plans, designs and sells it. Its Japanese company profile lists planning, development and sale of the Hobonichi Techo as a core business. Hobonichi's pages we read don't name the printer or binder of current editions. ### Where does the Hobonichi Weeks' White Line design come from? From a misunderstanding, according to Hobonichi: Shigesato Itoi took a white space in designer Taku Satoh's rough sketch for a white line, and liked it. The design arrived with the first Weeks in the 2011 edition. ### Is Hobonichi a public company? Yes. Hobonichi listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange's JASDAQ market on March 16, 2017, now the Standard market, under code 3560. Its business year runs from September 1 to August 31. ### When did the Cousin and Weeks come out? The A5 Cousin arrived with the 2009 edition, sold from September 1, 2008. The slim weekly Weeks followed with the 2011 edition, sold from September 1, 2010, the Techo's tenth year. ### Does the Hobonichi Techo still use Tomoe River paper? Yes, but a new version. From the 2024 edition Hobonichi switched to Tomoe River S, made by Sanzen Paper after the original maker, Tomoegawa, stopped production. The first Techo of 2001 already used Tomoe River. ### How many Hobonichi Techos are sold? Hobonichi's results for the year to August 2026 report a record 1.14 million copies of the Techo sold, up 18.8% on the year before. Its history page gives 960,000 copies for the 2025 edition and 12,000 for the first. ### Where does Hobonichi sell most Techos? Outside Japan, by value. In the year to August 2026, Hobonichi's Techo sales abroad were 4,571 million yen (about US$29 million), 57.5% of the total; North and Central America alone brought in 3,065 million yen (about US$19 million). ## Sources - [Hobonichi (Japanese): 沿革 (corporate history, 1979 to 2025)](https://www.hobonichi.co.jp/company/history.html) - [Hobonichi (Japanese): 会社概要 (company profile: founded December 24, 1979; chairman Shigesato Itoi; 156 staff)](https://www.hobonichi.co.jp/company/about.html) - [Hobonichi (Japanese): 株式情報 (TSE Standard, code 3560, listed March 16, 2017; business year to August 31)](https://www.hobonichi.co.jp/ir/stockinfo.html) - [Hobonichi (Japanese): 2026年8月期 決算説明資料 (results presentation for the year to August 2026)](https://ssl4.eir-parts.net/doc/3560/ir_material_for_fiscal_ym/213952/00.pdf) - [ほぼ日手帳 (Japanese): ほぼ日手帳、これまでのあゆみ (Techo history by edition: release dates and print runs)](https://www.1101.com/store/techo/ja/2026/pc/about/history.html) - [ほぼ日手帳マガジン (Japanese): 「ほぼ日手帳2024」から ほぼ日手帳の紙が変わります。 (paper changes to Tomoe River S)](https://www.1101.com/store/techo/ja/magazine/contents/y24_techo_tomoerivers/)