Quick History of Hobonichi Techo
This post definitely deserves an actual edited & illustrated article on my blog, but for now I’ve put together a rough list of past Hobonichi Techo books & covers so you can see the history of the product. All the old stores are left online for archives. For a long time after the techo’s birth in 2002, Hobonichi Techo covers only came in plain colors, with two choices: nylon material, or leather. You can see how much the product has grown over the years, as it was much more limited back then. 2002: http://www.1101.com/store/techo2002/ *Hobonichi Techo first introduced as a single book: A6 size and one navy cover. Design created by Hobonichi team. 2003: http://www.1101.com/store/techo2003/ *multiple color choices added for the first time 2004: Nylon: http://www.1101.com/store/techo2004/colors/index.html Leather: http://www.1101.com/store/techo2004/leather/index.html *leather added to lineup for the first time 2005: Nylon: http://www.1101.com/store/techo2005/colors/index.html Leather: http://www.1101.com/store/techo2005/leather/index.html 2006: http://www.1101.com/store/techo/2006/colors/index.html 2007: http://www.1101.com/store/techo/2007/colors/index.html *printed patterns join the lineup for the first time 2008: http://www.1101.com/store/techo/2008/colors/index.html 2009: http://www.1101.com/store/techo/2009/colors/index.html *fabric covers join the lineup for the first time *A5 Cousin joins lineup for the first time (announcement page here) *Hobonichi hires designer Taku Satoh to redesign Hobonichi Techo book, Satoh continues to oversee design to this day (explanation page here) 2010: http://www.1101.com/store/techo/2010/monthly/index.html 2011: http://www.1101.com/store/techo/2011/shopping/cover_original.html (first tab is A6, second is A5, third is Weeks) *Weeks joins lineup for the first time, comes in 1 color 2012: http://www.1101.com/store/techo/2012/lineup/index.html 2013: (click gray link underneath redirect button in popup window) Japanese: http://www.1101.com/store/techo/2013/lineup/index.html English: http://www.1101.com/store/techo/2013/planner/index.html *English-version book available for the first time, but check-out process is in Japanese 2014: (click gray link underneath redirect button in popup window) Japanese: http://www.1101.com/store/techo/2014/lineup/index.html English: http://www.1101.com/store/techo/2014/planner/index.html *Japanese A6 covers added to English store for the first time *English check-out available for the first time 2015: Japanese: http://www.1101.com/store/techo/2015/lineup/ English: http://www.1101.com/store/techo/2015/planner/index.html *Japanese-version books and A5 size added to English store for the first time *All accessories added to English store for the first time
Hopefully this will demonstrate what a long-term and labor-of-love process it is to carefully measure the growth and potential of such a time-sensitive product. Many people are frustrated that the entire Hobonichi lineup isn’t in English, but you can see through these web pages how it has steadily grown year after year. All things take time when you truly care about them and want to do it right!