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Hobonichi's record 1.14mn Techo run puts overseas at 57.5% of planner sales

Overseas buyers generated 57.5% of Hobonichi Techo revenue as the 2026 edition sold a record 1.14 million copies; the next fiscal year runs only ten months, so growth rates will not compare cleanly.

By Tokyo Brief DeskOct 14, 20262 min readHobonichi Co.,Ltd.3560
Planner notebooks stacked on a pallet next to export cartons, suggesting overseas shipment of diaries

Hobonichi sold a record 1.14 million copies of its 2026 Techo planner, and overseas customers accounted for 57.5% of Techo revenue in the year to August 2026. Techo sales reached ¥7.95bn: ¥4.57bn overseas and ¥3.38bn in Japan. The company says wholesale orders for the 2027 edition, which it began selling to wholesalers in August 2026, came in well above its expectations both at home and abroad.

Hobonichi links the lower cost ratio on Techo, 31.6%, mainly to faster growth in overseas direct-sales channels, which carry lower cost ratios.

First consolidated year

Group sales were ¥10.72bn, operating profit ¥1.11bn and profit attributable to owners of the parent ¥814.5mn. This is the first year Hobonichi has reported consolidated accounts, so the release gives no prior-year consolidated figures or growth rates. As a reference only, it compares the result with its 2025 standalone numbers: sales up 23.6% and operating profit up 80.3%.

A ten-month next year

Hobonichi is changing its year-end to June. The period to June 2027 runs only from September 2026, so it lasts ten months and the release states no year-on-year change in its headline guidance. The company expects sales of ¥10.5bn, operating profit of ¥1.17bn and net profit of ¥820mn. For a like-for-like view, it extracted the same ten months of the prior year: sales of ¥8.515bn, making the guidance 23.3% higher, with no equivalent net profit comparison. The outlook also cites the September 2026 opening of the brand's first flagship store, in the Gransta Tokyo in-station shopping complex at JR Tokyo Station, as a way to widen customer contact.

The company flags inflation, currency swings and regulatory or tax changes as risks that could raise purchasing and logistics costs.

Dividend

The board proposed a year-end dividend of ¥100 a share, up from the ¥90 it had forecast and paid a year earlier, totalling ¥232mn. It needs approval at the annual meeting in late November. Hobonichi pencils in ¥110 for the ten-month year. Earlier Tokyo Brief coverage is here: Earlier Tokyo Brief coverage.