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This year’s almost over. Some people might have started preparing for next year already. In Japan too, notebooks to fill in next year’s schedule are lined up in the miscellaneous goods corners. In amongst the many kinds of notebooks is the Hobonichi Techo series which proves popular every year.
The Hobonichi Techo series began with the first edition back in 2002, is produced by the Hobo Nikkan Itoi Shinbun website and now welcomes its 15th annual series of daily planner notebooks. Popular every year, 82 different kinds of notebooks are sold in the 2016 series. Among them, planners themed after Mother 2 (known as EarthBound overseas) have been catching fans’ attention.
The Mother Game Series - Popular Both in Japan and Overseas
The Mother game series began as an RPG produced by Nintendo and the editor-in-chief of Hobonichi, Japanese domestic copywriter, essayist, film and commercial advertising professional Shigesato Itoi. Itoi handled the entire planning of the original Mother game (released in Japan in 1989). At that time, there were a lot of RPGs themed around medieval Europe, but Mother was a little different thanks to its modern American-style setting.
Themed around the RPG series, the 2015 Mother day planners exploded with popularity as soon as they were released. Three different kinds of Mother 2 day planners are in development for the 2016 edition too. As soon as the planners were released they went out of stock and only went back on sale in October.
Also, from Nov. 21–23, a three-day event was held commemorating the launch. So many people came to the Shimokitazawa Village Vanguard store where the event took place hoping to get their hands on one of the day planners that it was completely packed and the planners almost sold out within a single day.
Speaking about the origins of the Mother day planners, Itoi said, “I thought, let’s add something special to the day planner lineup. However, we never thought in the beginning that so many people would want them. When we displayed them in the the window mixed in with all the other planners it made me so happy that there were customers who reacted with ‘Aaah! Mother!’ In the beginning it was such a throwaway idea (laughing).”
There are three Mother 2 planners in the 2016 series: the Mother 2 “Cast” (planner cover - 2,592 yen / planner & cover set - 4,752 yen); Mother 2 “Saturn Valley” (planner cover - 2,592 yen / planner & cover set - 4,752 yen), and Mother 2 “Dosei-san” (Mr. Saturn) (Weekly View edition - 2,376 yen)
The Mother series is as popular overseas as it is in Japan, and Itoi often hears from the game’s wildly enthusiastic fanbase. “The Mother games are weird. There are people who love supporting the supporting characters,” said Itoi regarding his surprise at the existence of such passionate fans.
Mother 2 - created with the involvement of Nintendo’s Satoru Iwata
Itoi was the producer on Mother 2 alongside the late Satoru Iwata. Following on from the previous game, Itoi handled the overall planning and scenarios and Iwata came on board as a programmer during the production. Iwata, that is the Iwata who would later become CEO of Nintendo, also handled such popular series as Kirby and Super Smash Bros.
When Iwata took part in the stalled development of Mother 2 he said, “It will take two years to fix this game in the shape it’s in right now, but if it’s OK to start from scratch we can do it in a year. Which shall we do?” This anecdote of how Iwata increased the speed of production and got the game off the ground has become a legend among gaming fans.
During the game’s development there were a lot of hard times, but “Iwata wasn’t someone who showed difficulty on his face. At that time Iwata lived in Yamanashi Prefecture 1. Everyday he stayed overnight working. When he was going back home, instead of staying at the hotel in Tokyo, I used to drive him to the station for the train to Tamanashi. He’d be catching the train the same time as the people going mountain climbing and getting home hours later. It was a train that ran on very narrow rails so it shook so much you couldn’t sleep on it. ‘That must have been hard’ I thought, but when I asked him about it years later he just laughed,” explained Itoi.
After working hard on the Mother series together, Itoi became good friends with Iwata. Iwata took the title of IT Manager at Hobo Nikkan Itoi Shinbun and carried out interviews with Itoi many times.
The Mother 2 day planners which are also packed with memories of Iwata and the game’s development are on sale now. If you like the sound of that, how about getting your hands on one?
Mother 2 day planner covers available at Shimokitazawa Village Vanguard until Dec 6, 2015!
Hobonichi Techo 2016 Official Site
Shop "MOTHER 2 Hobonichi Techo 2016" at Tokyo Otaku Mode Premium Shop!
^1^ Yamanashi Prefecture is located inland on the Japanese island of Honshu adjoining Tokyo and Kanagawa. The prefectural capital is Kofu. From Kofu to the centre of Tokyo it takes around 2.5 hours by train. Yamanashi Prefecture is well known for having a route to climb Japan’s highest mountain, Mount Fuji.
This is a Tokyo Otaku Mode original article written by Kohji Sakurai and translated by Hayley Scanlon. Photos by Tetsuya Hara.