Hobonichi Hiroko Kubota: Graph Notebook (A6) - Another night of falling star sparklers

The Hobonichi Graph Notebook (A6) featuring "Another night of falling star sparklers" is a pocket-sized grid notebook that combines Tomoe River paper with an atmospheric illustration by Japanese artist Hiroko Kubota. On the cover, a cat holds a sparkler into a quiet night landscape with a city silhouette – the twinkling stars are printed in aurora foil, which shimmers in changing colours depending on the viewing angle. The design was originally created for the Hobonichi Techo Weeks 2024, where it proved so popular that Hobonichi is now releasing it as a standalone notebook.

Features

• Tomoe River paper, fountain pen friendly: This gossamer-thin yet tear-resistant paper lies smooth and cool under the nib. Inks don't feather, colours remain brilliant – even wet inks, broad nibs and heavily-loaded calligraphy nibs stay on the surface and dry without bleeding through. Not archival quality.
• Thread-bound sewn binding, opens flat to 180°: The notebook opens completely flat without needing to be held – both pages lie evenly on the table, and you can write all the way into the spine area.
• 3.7 mm grid in four colours: The grid changes colour every 60 pages – red, blue, green, violet. This creates four natural chapters without needing to add a single bookmark.
• Aurora foil on the cover: The sparkler sparks are printed in shimmering aurora foil that glows differently with every change of light – not applied as a sticker, but integrated directly into the multi-colour print.
• Back cover with fox detail: At the end of the starline on the back, a fox with characteristic eyebrows is waiting – a classic Kubota Easter egg that only reveals itself on closer inspection.
• Compatible with A6 Techo covers: The format matches the Hobonichi Techo Original (A6) exactly – the notebook can be placed into any compatible A6 cover.

Use & Tips

• Fountain pens and inks: Tomoe River paper responds beautifully to wet inks with shading and sheening – the smooth, low-absorbency surface makes ink gradations clearly visible. Note drying times depending on ink type and nib width.
• Use colour codes as structure: The four grid colours (red / blue / green / violet, 60 pages each) work well as subject blocks – for different projects, sketch series or mood journal chapters.
• As a companion to the Hobonichi Techo: The notebook matches the A6 Original Techo format exactly and can be used as a loose notepad insert or as a standalone collection alongside it.
• Bullet journalling and rapid logging: The 3.7 mm grid is fine enough for tight handwriting, large enough for small diagrams and symbols – the classic Hobonichi size that many BuJo systems can adopt directly.
• Sketches and watercolour experiments: Tomoe River is conditionally suitable for light watercolour washes – single, quickly applied glazes work well, but excess water will cause buckling.

For Paper Enthusiasts

Tomoe River paper is manufactured in Japan and is renowned for its extreme lightness combined with ink density. The low grammage results in visible show-through, but hardly any bleeding – a trade-off that many fountain pen users willingly accept because the ink rendering on the writing side remains exceptionally clear. The 3.7 mm grid is identical to the Hobonichi Techo Original, making the notebook immediately useful for anyone already familiar with the system. Illustrator Hiroko Kubota, born 1971, works with acrylic gouache and is known for atmospheric landscapes with animal characters that radiate a peculiar stillness – visual worlds where city silhouettes and natural scenes intertwine.

Technical Specifications