Hobonichi Cover Yumi Kitagishi: White Cat Village (A5)

Yumi Kitagishi is a Japanese illustrator whose works in rich acrylic gouache carry the charm of hand-drawn picture books – colorful, warm, full of little stories. For the Hobonichi 2026 collection, she has captured the village of the white cat on this A5 cover: many houses, animals, and friends of the white cat. The polyester outer shell displays these scenes densely packed – like a luminous memory board of the little cat's life.

Special Features

• Acrylic gouache illustrations by Yumi Kitagishi: Everyday scenes of the white cat in Kitagishi's characteristic picture book aesthetic – rich in color, detailed, hand-drawn, and printed on the polyester cover.
• Designed interior lining: The interior of the cover is also by Kitagishi – many objects and figures are decoratively arranged inside. The right pocket shows the white cat with its back to us and a small house with a red roof and chairs.
• Large rear pocket with hidden illustration: In the back pocket is an additional drawing – only visible when opened, a little surprise in everyday life.
• Butterfly-stopper pen holder: Two pen loops in butterfly format securely hold writing instruments and close the cover at the same time – no separate rubber band, no magnetic closure.
• Left interior pockets with stationery motif: The pockets on the left inside are illustrated with peeking stationery accessories – another small detail in the overall picture.
• Fits A5 Hobonichi notebooks: The cover accommodates A5 books with a spine of up to approximately 1.27 cm (0.5 inches); slightly thicker notebooks can also be inserted, but fit more snugly.

Application & Tips

• Techo Cousin A5 as insert: The cover is tailored to the Hobonichi Techo Cousin A5 – one side per day on ultra-thin Tomoe River paper that is ink-resistant and extremely lightweight. Fountain pens, gel pens, and fine liners all work equally well on it.
• Using the pen holder correctly: The butterfly-stopper loops securely hold slim writing instruments up to approximately 11–12 mm in diameter. Thinner pens like fineliners or narrow fountain pens fit particularly snugly.
• Pockets as ephemera archive: Business cards, postcards, stickers, tickets, or Polaroids fit in the interior pockets. If you combine the cover with a transparent Hobonichi Cover on Cover, you gain even more storage space on the outside.
• Surface protection: The printed polyester surface is wipeable and robust in everyday use. With intensive use, a transparent outer sleeve (Cover on Cover, A5) permanently protects the illustrations.

For Hobonichi Enthusiasts

Yumi Kitagishi works in acrylic gouache – a technique that combines full opacity with matte surfaces and produces the characteristic luminosity of her colors. The 35 scenes selected for this cover come from her white cat character, which also appears in her picture books. Hobonichi transfers these illustrations flatly onto the polyester cover without smoothing out the hand-drawn character – the slight texture and color depth remain visible. The cover is designed for the Techo Cousin A5, which is characterized by its wide daily page format (A5, one page per day) and extremely thin Tomoe River paper – ink-proof enough for fountain pens, light enough that the completed filled book has barely any weight.

Technical Data