Hobonichi Graph Notebook (A5) - Keiko Shibata: Who is it?

*We renamed this product from the Hobonichi Plain Notebook to the Hobonichi Graph Notebook from the 2025 edition.

We introduced the Hobonichi Graph Notebook in 2019 in response to requests for a standard notebook that feels just like the Hobonichi Techo. This cover design is made in collaboration with an artwork by picture book author and illustrator Keiko Shibata.

“Who is it?” depicts cats noticing the sound of a guest that has come to their house and staring at the front door from the room door and even from outside the window. Are the cats in a welcoming mood, or are they trying to see if they can let the guest inside?

A unique scene from their daily life is rendered with a warm touch of oil pastel.

The back cover is as red as the door, with Keiko Shibata’s autograph printed.

The notebook has thin and durable Tomoe River paper and opens completely flat. It comes in two sizes: A6 to match the Original, and A5 to match the Cousin. The A6 size notebook is 8mm thick and contains 240 pages, while the A5 size is 10mm thick and contains 288 pages. This gives you plenty of space to fill the notebooks to your heart’s content.

The 3.7 millimeter graph paper is the same as that of the Hobonichi Techo Original. The color of the ink on the page changes (red / blue / green / purple) every 60 pages in the A6 size, and every 72 pages in the A5 size. This makes it easy to split the book into several themes or use the colors as a way to more easily find old entries.

Because the book sizes match the A6 Original and A5 Cousin Hobonichi Techos, you can use these notebooks with a techo cover. The cover is great for storing items like pens or sticky notes, and provides a very convenient user experience.

The notebook is a great supplement to the Hobonichi Techo, or simply a smaller-size notebook to keep by your side for filling with lots of writings or drawings.

We recommend matching them with a techo cover or Weeks featuring Shibata’s artwork.

What is Tomoe River paper?

The Hobonichi Techo's Tomoe River paper is designed to prevent bleed-through, but some fountain pens and water-based ink pens are not compatible with this paper. When switching to a new pen, we recommend testing the pen somewhere in the book, such as the back memo pages, to see if the ink bleeds through or takes an especially long time to dry.