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2026 Hobonichi Planners Review | Switching from Erin Condren

This post may contain affiliate links; all opinions are my own. See Disclosures here.

If you’ve followed this blog, you’ll know that I loved Erin Condren planners. I used them for 12 years, but when they discontinued my favorite A5 horizontal weekly life planner, I made the switch to the Hobonichi Weeks. Keep reading for my review of my Hobonichi planners for 2026 and all the accessories I’ll be using:

Since the switch, the Hobonichi Weeks has been so engaging and motivating for me. For a while, I was duplicating everything in both planners to see how the transition would be. But I dramatically prefer the Weeks and it has become my only planner for the rest of this year.

Because I’ve been loving the Weeks, I decided to order one as my 2026 planner as well. I bought my current Weeks on Amazon in the April-start, Japanese version. I really I wanted to get the Japanese version again for my 2026 Weeks, but it wasn’t available at Amazon or other US retailers, so I decided to order directly from Hobonichi.

ABOUT THE HOBONICHI ORDERING EXPERIENCE

I waited a month after the 2026 planner launch to start prepping my Hobonichi order just in case the US retailers got the Japanese Weeks in stock. While I waited, I learned more about all the different Hobonichi planners. There are so many types and sizes, but it was the covers that seemed to have the most hype.

I’m new to Hobonichi, but I was reading that there was an issue with scalpers and the covers selling out in previous years. So this year, you could only purchase one cover for each planner type you ordered. I haven’t been using a cover on my current Weeks, but I can see how a special cover would be nice.

WHAT PLANNERS I CHOSE AND MY PLANS FOR THEM

After researching the covers and different planner types, I started to think that it might be nice to have a separate planner just for tracking my health/fitness/wellness/gratitude. So in addition to the Weeks, I ordered the 5-Year Techo.

After placing my order, I got a tracking number four days later and my package was delivered four days after that. I was a tiny bit nervous ordering from Japan because of all the tariffs and customs changes being announced, but everything went really smoothly. And since I ordered direct, I got a couple gifts with purchase.

HOBONICHI WEEKS

I chose the Full Moon Yellow color for my Weeks in Japanese. The color is so pretty and I feel like it’ll be a happy boost to my planning next year.

This will be my everyday planner where I write out daily tasks and highlights of the day. I’ll use the grid page on the weekly spread to track the weather, my run stats, daily habits, mood, skincare, sleep, and any other pending items.

I have been loving the Hobonichi Weeks because it forces me to be more creative and intentional with my planning. It is more motivating for me to see my progress towards goals or tracking tasks in this weekly layout. I also love how minimal and sleek it is. I almost can’t believe I was using such a big and bulky A5 planner for so long.

Here’s a look at some ways that other people are using their Hobonichi Weeks:

WEEKS DETAILS AND FEATURES

The Hobonichi Weeks is a slim horizontal, weekly planner. It’s 7.4″ x 3.8″. The Full Moon Yellow Weeks has the year foil-pressed into the cover. The yellow is so cheery and bright.

The Weeks uses ultra-thin Tomoe River Paper which is slightly parchment colored. It’s a smooth kind of paper that holds ink really well.

The front of the Weeks has a yearly calendar for 2025, 2026, and 2027. And a yearly index for 2026. All of the monthly calendars are grouped together, and this 2026 Weeks starts with December 2025 and goes through March 2027.

Then the Weeks goes into the weekly spreads. On the left page, all 7 days are laid out horizontally and on the right, is a blank grid page. This grid page is where I write out all my trackers. The weekly spreads start on December 1, 2025 and go through January 3, 2027.

I didn’t choose the Mega size Weeks, so my planner only has 71 pages of grid paper in the back. I’ve been using these pages for notes, journaling, or bigger yearly goals, and it’s really nice to have them all in one place.

The back of the planner has some random bonus pages like “my 100”, “emergency preparedness”, and “solar terns”. I haven’t used any of these pages in my current planner, but maybe I will for this 2026 Weeks.

HOBONICHI 5-YEAR TECHO

Like I mentioned, I wanted to get this 5-year planner to track all things health and gratitude. I chose the A6 size and it’s so cute and small.

I like the idea of a 5 year planner for something like health and fitness because it’ll make it easy to compare progress year over year. I’ve been running for a while now and sometimes it feels like I’m not making any improvements. I think that reading back through a certain day each year will give me a clearer picture of my progress.

sample page

I’m not 100% sure how I will set up each day yet. A sample page is included with the planner, and I’ve been using my iPad to draw out some mock spreads. I’m thinking that the first year will just be a warm-up year. I’ll maybe write out a few notes on a run, track what strength reps I did, maybe set up a tracker for my mood and energy, and write one thing I’m grateful for.

Then for the following years, I think I’ll have a good idea of what I like to track, and I can start to use the right grid page for maybe graphing changes to my pace, distance run, weight, etc. I’d also like to have some kind of summary at the end of the month that I can compare against each year.

I don’t want to be too rigid about it though. Some days I might not want to or be able to write in my planner. Maybe all I can manage one day is a single word. I’m not too worried about it, but I do want to have some ideas going into the year.

5-YEAR DETAILS AND FEATURES

The A6 5-Year is a small planner with the pages dated from 2026 through 2030. It has the years gold foil-pressed into the dark, reddish-brown cover. The planner is 6″ x 4.4″ x 1″.

The A6 5-Year uses the same ultra-thin Tomoe River Paper in the same creamy color. It came in a bright turquoise box with silver foiling which will be a nice storage box once I’m finished with the planner.

There are yearly calendar pages for 2026 through 2030, and then daily pages following for each day. This planner also has some bonus pages like, “remember this”, “gifts”, and “my favorite things”. I’m super excited to use this planner next year.

ACCESSORIES

I didn’t buy any covers with my Hobonichi order. I thought they were all kind of expensive and I didn’t love any of them. But, since Hobonichi only lets you buy a cover when you also order a planner, I felt like it was now or never for me to get a cover for my 5-Year. And since I’ll be using this planner for five years, I think a cover will help protect it.

But none of the covers were what I wanted. Instead, I bought a clear cover separately and a small pouch that I can use to store/protect my 5-Year. This pouch is a perfect size and it has some other pockets in case I want to travel with some things. I think this pouch looks really nice with my Weeks as well. And since my 5-Year now had a clear cover, I ordered one for my Weeks as well.

Here’s everything else I’ve been using with my current Weeks, and plan on using for both of these planners next year:

Pens

Covers/Pouches

Photo Printer/Stickers/Washi

Other Misc.

FINAL THOUGHTS

I’m really happy with my 2026 planners and I’m excited to use them next year. I hope this post inspired you or helps you decide what planner is right for you. ♡♡♡

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