Since 2024, I’ve rarely left the house without my Hobonichi Weeks planner in my bag, and I’ve never missed an entry, achieving the rare and elusive “planner peace” with this journaling form factor. There are more than enough notes pages for me to record TTRPG sessions and process my thoughts through journaling on the go when needed. Though I’ve debating getting a five-year journal in the past, I love the thrill of a new Weeks cover too much to give that up. As we make our way through August, the month of daily drip news about Hobonichi’s upcoming lineup, I’m excited to decide which new cover in the 2027 lineup will suit me best. As a big fan of Yumi Kitagishi’s illustrations (I’ve purchased her Weeks collaboration editions for the past three years, pictured above), I was delighted to see her name amongst the Hobonichi collaborators in a leak reported on Reddit. It’s not surprising as her covers were very popular in past lineups, but I’m still delighted to see her name appear on the list. Her collaboration cover hasn’t been officially announced yet, so we don’t know what the design looks like. However, given the typical detail in her designs, I’m guessing it won’t be a fabric “bow & tie cover” like in 2024, but rather a hard cover with a print like this year’s model, which is what I prefer. However, this year, Hobonichi did something truly unexpected with their Moomin collaboration: they modified their interior page layouts to include delightful illustrations by Tove Jansson, the creator of the Moomins. Not only will the weekly layouts have illustrations, but the monthly layouts will be modified as well. However, it’s worth noting that these illustrations will only be present in the Japanese versions. This leaves me with a very hard decision for 2027: do I stick with an English version of a yet unreleased Yumi Kitagishi Weeks or choose the uniquely delightful Moomin Japanese special edition Weeks with illustrations inside the weekly and monthly layouts for 2027? Technically, my local stationery shop won’t go live for orders until the last day of August, so I have time to decide, but the Moomin Weeks: A Day in the Life of Snufkin is particularly tempting as I love the dynamic between Snufkin and Moomin so much that my friends have sent me fan art that they’ve illustrated by hand of my favorite duo. The only reservations I have are that the cover of the Snufkin weeks is fabric, which I find is difficult to clean and the weekly quotes will be in Japanese that is beyond my skill level. I’ll definitely need to use a plastic “cover on cover” for this edition to keep it looking its best, which detracts from enjoying the cover itself throughout the year. It’s particularly charming to see Snufkin with Moomin on the cover, but there’s no guarantee that that placement will occur on mine, which would suck. I really miss being able to go to the Hobonichi store in Tokyo and see the selection so I could pick out the exact fabric cover of my choosing. Given the possible cover design gamble with the Moomin and Snufkin placement, I’m hesitant to digitally order the Moomin cover despite how wonderful I find the interior illustrations. I don’t know if my local stationery store will let me pick my favorite pattern placement or if they’ll even have that much stock (or carry it altogether given that international licensing can sometimes be restrictive). I really don’t want to pay tariffs on a package directly from Hobonichi in Japan even though I do find the acorn charm this year to be so cute. Finally, I keep forgetting to end these Blaugust posts with a music recommendation, so here’s a wonderfully vibey and emotional bedroom pop song by The Crane called 特別 / SPECIAL. On this album, my other favorites are VILLAIN as well as DISEASE.