I while back I wrote a post about the lovely Hobonichi Techo, a planner that has quite the following in both Japan and overseas. The community aspect of sharing one’s completed pages and swapping ideas on how to fill the immaculately-designed books totally appeals to me, but after some consideration, I came to the conclusion that I probably won’t be jumping on the Hobonichi Techo bandwagon anytime soon. See, I have a different sort of planner obsession…
Since 2010, I’ve made a point of buying a new Rilakkuma-themed planner every year. Not only am I a huge fan of the bear famed for his love of relaxing (I can really relate), but the colorful illustrations and adorable covers have just been too good to pass up.
As you can see, I own two different sizes (I believe these are the only sizes the weekly and monthly planners come in, but there are also thinner ones that are just monthly planners). The large size is great if you want to write lots of notes and/or have a busy schedule, but I tend to get a little discouraged when I “waste” pages by not writing in them. On the other hand, the smaller size is just a tad too small… it certainly makes it look like I’m a very busy and important person, but it also means my writing can get a bit cramped. As such, I haven’t decided which I like better! If I keep up my tendency to switch sizes from year to year, I’ll be back to a large size next year.
I’ve always been a fan of cute and colorful stationary – my motto is, if I like looking at it, I’ll be more inclined to use it. And boy, do I like looking at these planners! They never cease to put a smile on my face.
In the interest personalization, I usually try to decorate the monthly pages with cutouts and stickers. Here are a couple samples from my old planners:
Each month is themed differently – as you can see, February 2010 had a distinct strawberry theme. The theme carries through to the weekly pages, as well, and generally each week has a different illustration of Rilakkuma or one of his companions floating around somewhere.
The larger sizes also have this monthly planning section that I almost never use, unfortunately. More importantly, look at that Rilakkuma eating a donut! I do believe he’s blushing.
And of course, it wouldn’t be a Japanese planner without some kind of extra goodies at the back. There are generally a few memo pages, as well as Japanese train line maps (very handy if you live in Japan), a personal info page, and some additional oddities that changes from year to year. Can you guess what the page on the right is?
Well, there you have it. Four years, four planners. Will I buy a Rilakkuma planner for 2014? You can bet on it!
