Hobonichi Day: Aftermath and What will you do differently?

I was never able to sort out the ID conversion. I spent days trying to sort out an email glitch for the verification code. I went to a vendor here in the states. payed double and no pen. So I did not order as much this year because I was so irritated before they even went live. So Happy I made the decision to bypass Hobonichi direct.

I was so prepared for my group and eventually i kept going out of sheer annoyance determination. 5 hours later, I got everything. Next year i ain't doing this again.

I ordered from hobonichi the day after…some of the accessories I was interested in were sold out, but that saved me from spending more 😅…when I first checked their site night of, the weeks I wanted was already sold out so I signed up for restock notifications…never received a restock notice but I just checked their site again the next day and the weeks I wanted were in stock so I placed my order with everything else I wanted, and taxes charged on it too.

I had my favorites all selected and now in the cart about 15 minutes after launch. I go to checkout and got the server error right away. I refreshed my screen and tried again and still getting server error message. So then I just watched tv and thought oh I'll just try again in an hour. So I go back and put my favorites back in cart, go to check out and two items were out of stock! I was so disappointed. I thought I would still check out and buy out of stock items from somewhere else. But... got the server error message again! So then I just went to sleep and decided ordering from Hobonichi on launch day was not going to happen. The next day after coffee and breakfast I went back to the site and put my favorites back in the cart. And was able to fully check out with no problems. One item was actually out of stock unfortunately but everything else I was able to get. I'm in west coast United States.

I always order from Yoseka so no headache for me. I like getting some other non-Hobonichi things with my order usually. I know it's more expensive but I like supporting them (and im not usually going for the super pricy covers so the extra paid to support a shop I like isn't so bad). It's such a bummer it took Hobonichi so long to recover :(

This was my first time and it was the most awful experience, I finally just purchased in other sites paying a lot more for less items 😢

I finally got access today, I had to toss photos like crazy in order to update my Software

This is the same experience when buying BTS concert tickets 🤣

I decided not to buy my planners this early. Last year, a lot of shops restock after the first launch so there’s no use in buying them so soon. Glad I avoided this anxiety-inducing situation.

Thank you for sharing your experience! I’m glad you were able to order directly in the end and get your other orders cancelled.

What I learned for next year is to wait lol. I don’t have to purchase right at release time I can wait til the next day or like you said a couple hours after the release time, just to avoid all these issues.

This year’s hobonichi day was quite an experience to say the least lol. I just hope they take this year’s issues into account for next year.

Looking forward to your unboxing vid!

yes, it's very bad this year. I had same experience as yours. I was very upset. I am very seriously thinking the change. I hated the feeling of been manipulated.

Im in Sweden and got up just before 4am. It was a terrible experience. I was hoping for a more in depth explanation from Hobonichi (other than the apology message). They said things got back in stock due to people cancelling orders. That can’t be normal customers that cancelled. So many things went out of stock, but no one was able to check out? Their explanation doesn’t make sense. I feel sorry for the Hobonichi team that this happened, but I think their communication could have been better (earlier and more transparent).
I didn’t see any comments from customers that were disrespectful. I think most people were disappointed and stressed - not angry and disrespectful. I finally got my order through after 3,5 hours. I didn’t try the entire time. Discovered that things got back in stock at 7 am my time. Placed everything in my cart. Refreshed like crazy for 20 minutes and then I was able to pay. Felt a bit stressed at that point so forgot a couple of items, but that’s ok.

I tried ordering for nearly five hours till it went through. I lost the cart items five or six times. And all of the calenders, I was about to get (I was responsible for ordering stuff for five people), went out of stock, I took a break. I took a deep breath, remembered that hobonichi would often restock their items, and refreshed the pages every five minutes. After 30 minutes or so, the items all came back and I tried checking out again. It took forever, but it worked. So in the end I never considered to order somewhere else. I was a bit diappointed about the experience. But I was also kinda okay, because I considered, how many people would order at the same time and how small the traffic on other days of the year is.

This year, I just did not order on the day of or now… the third, I have not ordered

I had no problem, but I only ordered a Cousin in English - book only - a Techo -book only, and a Cherry Weeks. I got on around 4:00 pm Japan time.

Sorry you went through that ...release drops always make me anxious. I usually shop from Hobonichi directly, but this year I decided to just order from Yoseka. Had to refresh a couple of times for the items to be in stock but it was an easy checkout.

I am sorry to hear it was such a difficult experience for you, but glad that you made a right decision at the end! Yes, the hobonichi day sounds like new Black Friday 😅 I decided to stay away and just get my one Techo when everyone else will grab whatever they want. Seriously, all the weeks are exactly the same! Maybe language is different or a day start, but one can put on any stickers or cover and the inside that you actually use is absolutely identical.
Let’s find something more meaningful to worry about.

Didn’t even try as I’ve decided to go with Midori for 2025.

I took it all in stride but only kinda panicked when it looked like the avec was sold out. That was confusing when the planners themselves appeared to be selling out. I only planned on this one planner and one journal after SO much contemplation.

I ordered from another shop for more than I wanted but then cancelled and ordered from hobonichi the next morning without issue. I also don’t feel guilty for canceling from the other shop as I order from them on a regular basis and had already made another order to their shop a couple days earlier. I only order from hobonichi once per year and the cost savings was quite large for me.

the launch occurred at 5:00 AM where i’m at and i was awake due to jet lag so i tried to purchase the junaida weeks that i hoped for. the site stopped working and when i checked back later, it said “sold out”. hopped over to amazon japan and got it easily for shipping to my in-laws in japan with free shipping to boot! should have done that in the first place since my order was so small this year. 😂 i think one thing international customers overlook is that it was a sunday in japan, typically the one day off for a lot of workers and some of them worked even on their typical day off just to provide service to hobonichi customers. how lucky are we as humans to have nothing better to do than stress over a *planner*?

I luckily have a really cool stationery group chat, so we all panicked/supported each other together. We even are talking about making stickers "surviving" the end of the launch to make it more of a fun memory with friends. I definitely panicked a little, but it is just a journal and creativity is not limited by the items you buy. I ended up ordering half of my order from Yoseka and then slept on it and was able to get the other half from Hobonichi the next morning. It was frustrating, but I know the Hobonichi team is so passionate and they did not want this to happen. I hope everyone is able to enjoy their journals and that Hobonichi is able to restock some sold out items 💜

My husband and I were at a friend’s for dinner, so I didn’t even try until an hour and half after launch. I really wanted the Mina Piece cover, and told myself if it sold out, I’d get myself a new pen, lol! The cover, Cousin Avec and pencil board are my birthday presents; birthday this Thursday. So when I logged in, I saw the Mina was sold out. I went back to visiting with our friends, but on the drive home, something told me to check again. The Mina cover looked to be available. I could not checkout. I posted on the FB group and people said to keep trying. I was so tired, tried numerous times, fell asleep without getting through. I woke up at about 6:00 AM CST in US, checked the site, saw my cart was still in tact, (which I still can’t understand as others said their cart kept emptying), and my order went through very smoothly. This is the first year I ordered on launch day and only because I wanted a cover I thought may be popular. I feel for everyone who spent hours trying to make it work.

Things happened, I was feeling frustrated when they keep telling us to refresh but things keep getting SOLD out, that sounds very unfair! And after trying to refresh, and putting things back to my cart for an hours, I finally gave up, and also started looking at others but the item that I really wanted was also SOLD OUT at that point! So, I know Hobonichi will restore on lots of items, then the first thing I did was getting on the waiting list, and also thinking of getting the item on US Amazon later on. No biggie.

I went through the same concerns as you and when all of the items I wanted were sold out, I went to Jetpens to place my order. I experienced the same as you with trying to refresh my browser, rebuild my cart multiple times until I gave up and went to jetpens. I did go back to the hobonichi site in the morning EST and most of what I originally wanted became available except for one item I had to order the Japanese version because the English version sold out. I was able to cancel my Jetpens order in time. Which I feel bad for Jetpens because I can only imagine how many others did the same thing. I did go back and order some fountain pens on Jetpens because I won’t order them from hobonichi because they get stuck in customs because of the ink. Next year, I will try on launch day, but I won’t panic like to did this year and just wait until morning if the site overloads.

It was awful. I woke at 2.45am and tried checking out at 3.03am and no joke spent 5 hours trying to check out. So I lost them 5 hours sleep (I never went back to bed) and checked out finally at 8am. I felt stupid staying awake 5 hours trying to click the button to checkout non stop. I should of just gone back to bed and woke up in morning as it was all in stock anyways. It was stressful. I got everything I wanted and its been shipped today so I am excited ❤

I was one of those europeans who had to wake up at 4 AM and wasn’t really much frustrated, because it is ultimately my choice to go this out of my way for a planner. I know myself not being able to resist the launch from a company I love, but when I saw the site crashing and things selling out like hot cakes, I felt actually quite calm, because I knew they would eventually restock the items later anyway. After about 5 hours, I placed my order and was able to get even some of the most anticipated items, like the Yumi Kitagishi stuff. Thanks to that, I’m left with mostly excitement for the order and inner peace for my (usually very rare) relative level headedness that allowed me to stick to my original plan in this madness. I know myself, if I would’ve ended up paying significantly more that jntended and then found out that things in fact are in stock, it would’ve left me with a bitter aftertaste, so I mustered up all the zen I have in me, which isnt much 😂

I went back to sleep and ordered from hobonichi and got everything I wanted even the piece cover and the Tambourine cover I am so so happy ❤😊 but first i panicked and cried😅 😢

I ended up ordering elsewhere because things were sold out in my cart! It was definitely the worst it has ever been :(

So I ended up waiting because when I saw the actual avecs & techos start “selling out”, I realized something was wrong. About an hour later I checked back, things were all back in stock, and was able to check out about 4 hours post launch time!

Me & my friends decided to do a group buy as we hit the free shipping threshold, but at the same time, we also did a meet up to go to our local shop to support & buy there in case Hobonichi online gets any issues. I’m so grateful that they’re with me because the online experience made it bearable despite the stress. I stopped trying when the Hiroko Kubota HON got sold out & we managed to get what we wanted at our local shop. We had lunch after & went to a cafe to journal. While cafe journaling, I tried again online to buy the stuff that wasn’t available locally & I initially got an error, tried again & it went through. It was exhausting but looking back now, Hobonichi day became a memorable experience not because of the site issues but the time I spent with my friends ❤.

Thats why I never buy on release day. So much stress. I rather pay extra on my local shop to avoid the stress. 😅😅 I just bought Weeks Mega for next year planner.

I ordered from Yoseka . Seamless … checked out at 10:05 pm with exactly what I wanted.

I’m happy I was able to place my first order right at checkout. One item i wanted had said sold out but once I woke up Sunday morning it was there so I placed another order adding more things I missed that said sold out Saturday night but was now in stock again. I didn’t stress one bit about it, it’s never that serious to me. Being a global company having a big launch, things are bound to happen out of their control . I’m happy you were able to go back and get what you wanted after waiting.

Probably around 8 pm PST I looked at two American sites that had the launch and the Hobonichi site was lagging. I saw that the A5 HON I wanted was sold out on the American sites but not on Hobonichi. I was busy that night and didn’t come home til 3 am to order. I didn’t have any problem ordering. I split my order from Hobonichi and Jetpens. I figured the price of Jetpens would be the cost of the price of items from Japan with shipping so I figured it may be faster to ship some stuff from there. The only things I bought from Hobonichi Japan were the A5 Hon I wanted and some other Japan only things.

Did both with Hobonichi and shopped with Yoseka

I was at a concert on the night of the drop. 😭😭 The venue had terrible reception. So I attempted to get on the website and it would not load. After the concert on the ride home I was able to add stuff to my cart. 2 of the items I wanted appeared to be out of stock. (A5 gingham hon and a6 cousin.) I decided to switch it up (even though it wasn’t what I really wanted) I decided to try adding an a6 gingham hon and a5 cousin. They were available. I added them to my cart. I wasn’t excited, since it wasn’t what I originally planned, but I tried. At the time it was midnight. I tried to check out and it didn’t work so I gave up until I got home. Home at 1am, and tried again and it wouldn’t allow me to check out. Went to bed. Woke up the original items I wanted were in stock, including the paddington pencil board I also wanted. Added items to my cart and finally was able to check out around 8am. I was frustrated but not as nearly as much as you, or even other buyers who had to wake up at 3am to try and secure their goods. I’m sorry to hear about your experience. I hope, despite the extra cost, you’re able to still enjoy your purchases. 💙💙

I panicked and ordered from Yoseka and I regret it 😔

I do not understand the Hobonichi hype and not a single friend who loves the brand can explain to me what the hype is. Hearing all these chaotic stories about the launch day makes me even more curious why people cant seem to do without it. Im sorry this happened. I'll be in a Sterling Ink planner for work and a Personal size TN with personal sized inserts for my edc next year. Hope things get better.

Oh it's not accepting my credit card 😢

I just did my order just now and I was blown away that I got the cover that I wanted. I did have to order direct though because it was sold out on all my preferred US sites. I am going to have to remember to do a group order next year or something though because I just paid 28 for shipping for one planner and cover set and a pencil board. Which I understand since it is coming from Japan but I feel like I should shop smarter next year.

I waited until the next morning. I ordered straight from hobonichi. This was my first order buying directly from them. I never knew the amount of up charges until that system crashed. My curiosity about the system going down made me go look. I kept to my usual needs, weeks and cover and A6 avec. Hopefully everyone found peace now.

It's not worth it. Kinbor is better solution several times cheaper with the same quality

I was very frustrated. My cart was dumped twice. And I got worried and ended up buying from a local seller for wayyy more. I spent about $100 over what I would have paid Hobonichi directly, and couldn't get the Stappo and Laccio bands that were on my wishlist. I convinced myself it was better for me to support local then sit there and deal with Hobonichi. I was really mad that such a big company had such a failed launch after all their build up. And then even more irritating was that I don't believe they ever sent a formal apology or statement to their customers or on their site. As a small business owner, I can empathize with unexpected mishaps that you can't control. But you should respect your customers by apologizing and owning up to it. I saw that Hobonichi was up again the next day and people cancelled their local orders. But, honestly I felt bad for these businesses who would also have to deal with this mess, restocking, processing refunds etc.

I was very frustrated. My cart was dumped twice. And I got worried and ended up buying from a local seller for wayyy more. I spent about $100 over what I would have paid Hobonichi directly, and couldn't get the Stappo and Laccio bands that were on my wishlist. I convinced myself it was better for me to support local then sit there and deal with Hobonichi. I was really mad that such a big company had such a failed launch after all their build up. And then even more irritating was that I didn't see a formal apology or statement to their customers or on their site. I see now that they finally said something.

As a small business owner, I can empathize with unexpected mishaps that you can't control. But you should respect your customers by apologizing and owning up to it immediately. I saw that Hobonichi was up again the next day and people cancelled their local orders. But, honestly I felt bad for these businesses who would also have to deal with this mess, restocking, processing refunds etc. it woukd be hard for me as a business owner to have to deal with cancelled orders because of Hobonichi. Next year, I'll also wait and see if things look better. I've already decided to switch to using Sterling Ink planners, and I'm mostly buying Hobonichi still for the weeks and covers. But, this left such a bad taste that I'd be willing to look elsewhere for 2026.

I was busy working during the launch. I had so many issues last year with FedEx and didn't get my items til 8 months later. I didn't order this year. I ordered from Amazon but immediately went back to my Rollbahn notebook I recently found. I think I'm over Hobonichi.

I think they will learn from this for next year. I think they could not handle the traffic combined with their new log in process. No doubt they do not want all the negative press they are getting again.

After watching the basic journals sell out I gave up and resigned myself to the fact that I would have to purchase locally at double the cost and not purchase extra items not available outside of their website. The next morning I checked the site, saw everything was back in stock, and purchased everything I wanted. It wasn't a lot, but everything will be used. I agree with the other posts regarding the negative comments towards the Hobonichi team. All were very unnecessary.

They've recently increased their prices, so disappointing. I feel that they they think foreign customers are suckers and taking advantage of us at this point.

I forgot all about launch day and ordered on 2nd of September with no issues. Not until I heard from people posting videos about their frustrations that I realised their server crashed! Has Hobonichi contracted a fulfilment company to front the Hobonichi online store this time?

So sorry for the stress and I hope you get all the Hobonichi you planned on getting.

It hasn't been that crazy since 2016ish? & another time prior to the year I wont mention. It didnt faze me knowing what I knew going in. I decided to disengage after 17 mins of light attempt.

Im not in the Planner Communities, so its making me think a Plus there.
I had largely broken up with them after the Sanzen paper rollout. My Inks dont shine in that as they did for original Tomoe.
Such is life: "Parting is such sweet sorrow"
BUT since I have the Brown Steiff Cover with Red Telephone Booth, it is Game On for Paddington Weeks!

Just received mine today, I ended up Ordering on day 3 by a whimful feeling!

I was so ready at 10pm eastern. I spent one hour and 15 minutes with the same struggles. I called my sister to see what she wanted to do when we both decided to give up for the night. The next day came I got up went to church came home took a nap and when I woke up, I checked my phone and my sister text that items that went out of stock were back in stock. We agreed to try again and it all went smoothly. Talk about experiencing all the feels. I went from angry ,disappointed, at peace, excited, hopeful ,happy. Today is September 13 and I just got my shipping notice from Hobonichi . All that time I was wondering if something was going wrong with my order because it has never taken so long to ship in the past. What a ride..

I might consider using the Midori hibino next time, but I’m not sure (it’s a bit too big for my liking and there isn’t the vertical monthly layout).

Hobonichi has some great designs this year. I managed to get everything I want the next morning, but yes I was also one of those people who kept pressing on the checkout button for more than an hour on launch day. It was stressful.

This Hobonichi launch ended up being the subject of my journaling entries for two days straight. Now it’s officially part of my life story.