In 2025, Final Fantasy IX, one my all-time favorite games, celebrated its 25th anniversary. Luckily for me, I just so happened to be in Tokyo when a special exhibition commemorating that occasion was being held! From development materials that had never been displayed before to exclusive merch, it was definitely a dream come true for a fan of the game. Read on for my full recap!
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In honor of Silent Hill f‘s release last month, Konami hosted a limited-time popup for fans to experience food, props, and decorations inspired by the game in Little Tokyo, Los Angeles, CA. The event, called A Taste of Ebisugaoka, ran from September 27 to October 19, 2025, and while I didn’t plan to make a special trip to Little Tokyo for it, I happened to be in the area for a concert, so I took the opportunity to swing by!
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If you’ve been following this site for a while, you’ll know that I am a huge fan of the Hobonichi Techo series of planners from Earthbound creator Shigesato Itoi’s lifestyle company, Hobonichi. I’ve been using them every year since I got my first one in 2017, and love looking at what other users do with theirs for inspiration, as well as official Hobonichi Techo communications for the latest news and insights.
So, you can imagine my excitement when Hobonichi announced that they would be bringing their meetup event, the Meeting Caravan, to Los Angeles! There were to be two sessions at the stationery store Hightide Store DTLA, and applications were open on the Hobonichi website for a period in September. You read that right – due to the limited number of spaces available, there was an application/expression of interest process you had to go through to be considered for attendance!
Of course, I immediately jumped on a chance to apply – while I don’t live in the immediate LA area, it’s not all that far from me, and I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to talk about the Hobonichi Techo at an in-person meetup! The questions were pretty general, and standard – how long have you been using the techo for, what is your age/gender, etc. I had no idea how many people would apply, but I submitted my application, crossed my fingers, and waited… Until I received an email notifying me that I got in!
It’s wild to think that 12 years after my first blog post about the Hobonichi Techo and 8 years after I took the plunge and picked up my first techo, I would have the opportunity to meet with Hobonichi staff and other enthusiasts in an official Meeting Caravan meetup in Los Angeles. To be honest, I was a little nervous – though the event is welcoming to users of all walks of life and meant to be an information exchange, not a “look how great MY Hobonichi is” contest, I couldn’t help but feel worried that my Hobonichi wouldn’t look cute enough, have enough entries filled in, etc.
Despite my trepidation, I resolved to bookmark a few of my favorite pages to share (knowing that there was a chance they’d be photographed and shared on the Hobonichi Techo website), pack up some of my favorite journaling supplies, and try my best not to be too anxious.
Since I’d never been to Hightide Store DTLA before, this was also a great opportunity to check out what they have to offer, which I must say, is quite a lot! The adorable store opened 30 minutes before my Meeting Caravan session, so I went in early to look around. They were having a Hobonichi Techo popup that was surprisingly well-stocked, so I picked up a Cover on Cover from the 2026 Tamagotchi collection that I’d been eyeing, and ooh’d and aah’d over all of the things in the store until the event was about to start. If you’re ever in the area, I highly recommend checking out Hightide Store DTLA for Japanese stationery and quirky gifts!
The event was held in a corner of the store with a large, rectangular wooden table, so when it was time, I wandered over and checked in. The Hobonichi staff gave me a blank piece of paper to write my name on and decorate before things got started. There were lots of stationery products from the Hobonichi website available to try out, so I got straight to work. What do you think? Can you tell I like coffee?
When it was time to kick things off, the main Hobonichi staff member running the event gave a little presentation about the Hobonichi company itself, which provided some interesting background for those of us who primarily focus on the Hobonichi Techo. I always forget they have this whole other side to the business where they post daily articles and general lifestyle items for sale. It reminded me that I should check it out more! (That side of things is only available in Japanese)
Attendees were then each given an opportunity to talk about how we use our techos and share any of our favorite pages or products that we journal with. Unfortunately, despite the fact that the event allowed for 6-8 attendees, only 3 people actually showed up, including me… Classic LA, right?
Despite there only being 3 of us, plus the 2 Hobonichi staff, we had lots to talk about! I really enjoyed hearing each of the other 2 attendees talk about their history with the techo and how they use it in their daily lives. All of us brought our past journals, too, so it was great to see so many techos in one place. You wouldn’t be able to tell there were just 3 of us from this stack, would you?!
One thing that I didn’t consider was how this event inspired me to go back and look at my old techos, some of which I haven’t flipped through since I finished them. The first Hobonichi Techo I used in 2017 was during the final year of my PhD, so flipping through that brought back so many memories of late night edits, sprinting to get it done…
And I also can look back and see how much my method of using the techo has changed. I don’t write daily tasks in it anymore, primarily because I’ve found using digital task systems works better for me, and I am currently using a Day Free Hobonichi Techo because I don’t like feeling like I’ve “missed” days.
One of the attendees showed us how she puts little stickers or manga printouts in pages where she didn’t have time or energy to write and said that when she looks back, it reminds her that it was a busy time. I think that’s a lovely way of thinking of it, rather than just seeing a blank/near blank page and feeling bummed out that you “missed” or “skipped” it. I’m not sure if or when I’ll switch back to a daily Hobonichi Techo, but if I do, I will definitely try to use that mindset!
It was also really fun to see everyone’s supplies and compare covers. Check out this epic use of the Stappo pouch for supplies!
After we all shared our experiences, there was free time to chat and try out the different supplies the Hobonichi staff brought along. It was so much fun! While I started off really nervous about sharing my techos, I found that as soon as I started talking with everyone, that nervousness melted away. There really was no judgement, and I could feel that everyone just loved talking with other journaling and stationery fans.
At the end of the 90 minute session, we took a group photo, and each attendee received a little gift! I didn’t expect this, as attending the event was more than enough, but it was a very sweet gesture from the Hobonichi team.
All of the Hobonichi Techo Meeting Caravan events from around the world are catalogued on the official website, so you can see photos and recaps of past events there. At some point in the near future, my LA event should be added too, so I will add a link here when it’s posted! While I don’t know if any of my techo photos will make an appearance, it’s still cool to think that something I went to will be immortalized on the official Hobonichi website after all these years writing about and sharing the techo myself.
The best part of the event was definitely talking to the other attendees, and we all shared our Instagram handles with one another to keep in touch. I hope there will be even more in-person Hobonichi Techo meetups in my future!
There are a lot of things from our childhoods that don’t hold up when revisted again as adults. Nostalgia can paint some things with a rose-tinted lens, but there are certainly plenty of things that hold up with the test of time, even when we’ve grown older and more discerning.
For me, one game from my childhood that absolutely holds up is the Squaresoft-developed shmup Einhander. Side-scrolling shooters were far from my usual fare of RPGs, but one day my mom gifted this funky little game with a ship on the cover that I’d never heard of before. Although the hand x-ray on the start menu creeped me out (what can I say, I was a sensitive kid), I was immediately drawn in by the extremely cool music and futuristic cityscape in the opening level.
Instead of playing Einhander by myself, like I did for most games, my mom and I played it together. Since it’s a single player game, we took turns, passing a controller back and forth whenever one of us was shot out of the sky. And let me tell you, we were shot down often. Even if it weren’t super catchy, I’d still have that opening level’s initial operatic-like vocalization in the soundtrack memorized due to the sheer number of times we repeated it.
I think the furthest we ever got was the boss of level 2, and even as an adult I haven’t been able to get much further than that playing on a standard console (save states would definitely come in handy, though!). I still have flashbacks to the mole-like level 2 midboss jumping into the air and knocking me out the sky…
Despite countless deaths and retries, playing Einhander with my mom remains my favorite memory of us gaming together. Apparently, she just saw Einhander at a game store and and thought it looked cool. Definitely a risky strategy, especially back in those days! But Squaresoft had a solid track record, and even their first foray into the shmup genre turned out to be a well-made, memorable title that certainly stands the test of time.
Oh, and I can’t say enough good things about the soundtrack! It’s absolutely worth a listen, even if you don’t play the game. But you definitely should, even if you need to share the controller with a shmup-playing friend.
If there was anything that could get me to brush the dust off of this blog, it would be a Katamari Damacy collaboration cafe. Running from July 25 to September 2 at TOKYO PARADE goods & cafe in Shibuya PARCO, it is exactly the kind of thing that makes me wish I could just hop on a train and go – thus making it the ideal subject for a Japan Envy post!
To my knowledge, there has never been a Katamari Damacy collab cafe since the game originally came out for PlayStation 2 in 2004. We’ve already passed the 20 year anniversary, so what’s the special occasion? I’m not sure, but I’m sure not complaining!
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As a fan of crafting and cute DIYs, I have been amassing a small collection of wooden Rolife dioramas. But though adorable, they seemed rather intimidating, so I never actually tried to put one together…until now! With the help of my model kit-savvy boyfriend, I was finally able to see what the assembly was like for one of the cutest kits in my backlog: the Rolife Dark Castle DIY Dollhouse Box Theater.
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Anything can happen on Halloween, and this year at Chic Pixel, I’m joining in the 31 days of horror movie challenge! Well, since Marcus and I will be doing it together, it’s technically a Pixel x Pixel challenge, and I thought it would be fun to share with all of you in case you would like to give it a go, too.
Broadly, the challenge consists of watching a different horror movie every day of October, but you can watch as many or as few as you want. Or, perhaps you want to watch two one day and skip the next? Go for it!
Our list is made up of movies that were on Marcus’ and my mutual watch list, Marcus’ personal watch list, a few things we’ve been wanting one another to see, and one we want to watch together. We couldn’t keep the list down to just 31, so there are are few alternates that can be swapped in or just added on if we’re feeling adventurous.
Finally, there isn’t any specific order to this list, and we’re likely going to pick and choose based on what fits the mood and the window of time we have to watch for the day. Films that have an M next to them are ones that Marcus has already seen, while A marks ones I’ve watched before. Feel free to check out the list and join in if you’re interested, or share what films you’ll be watching!
We’ll be posting short reviews in the Chic Pixel Pals Discord, so be sure to join if you haven’t already. To sign up, just fill out this form to receive an invite. I’ll also publish a roundup of highlights (and possibly lowlights…) here on the blog at the end. Happy watching!
