It’s been a year already? The latest lineup for the Hobonichi Techo 2016 (in Japanese for now) is online. Unlike last year, where I was completely taken by the buzz and the excitement of something new, I now know what to expect and more crucially what I like and need.

The A6 size hasn’t worked out for me as I would have liked. I found myself running out of space on occasions, or ended up looking to complete my thoughts elsewhere. That’s going to have to change if I’m going to use this book as my catchall for everything. I am a huge lover of the A5 size, and while the ‘Cousin’ version of the Hobonichi planner is in fact all in Japanese, it’s functional enough to not be a problem.

The biggest draw for this notebook is the paper, which is without equal. I’ve tried many different papers this year, but the Tomoe River paper has stood out as the undeputed champion when it comes to making the most out of inks and pens that I use.

The Hobonichi Techo will remain my notebook of choice, where I dump all my thoughts and ideas into a single place. The only bad thing is that I now need a new cover - the new ones are a big disappointment, so I’m looking to Etsy for some alternatives. Top of my list are these covers from StrideRidge - and they’re actually affordable unlike some of these ‘official’ covers on offer.