A STORY WORTH KEEPING
STORY / v2.2
from Y.K
Starting again, from one planner.
Introduction
Hello. I’m Y.K, the developer, and I live in Japan. As for my age, I’ll let you guess as you read on.
Why did I come to create System Note? In this notebook, I tell the story of the digital planner I first built on my own decades ago, and how I came to make it again with AI.
CONTENTS
01 / The Beginning
Several decades ago, at an accounting software company called Milky Way, I was given sole responsibility for planning and development related to graphical user interfaces.
A DOS/V PC connected to a high-resolution CRT monitor, running Windows. It was a time when that kind of setup was finally coming within reach.
What follows is the story as I remember it from those days.
02 / The First Notebook
At PCA, where I had worked before, I helped develop Japan’s first accounting software for IBM OS/2. That experience led me to take on research and development of new GUI systems at Milky Way.
The first system I planned on my own and built from scratch there was “Milky Way System Note.”
03 / It Began with a Planner
Even after Japan’s economic bubble ended, there was still a sense of momentum. I had just joined the company and worked with a FILOFAX ring planner, popular at the time, filled with different kinds of inserts.
Schedules, contacts, and passing ideas, all neatly and usefully organized in one notebook. “This is so convenient. I’d like to make it work on a PC.” That thought was the starting point.
04 / Memories of Development
The development SDKs for IBM OS/2 and Windows were built very differently. My impression was that IBM had a solid structure and clear rules.
Windows, on the other hand, had code I thought was brilliant, as well as parts where bugs gave me trouble. But it was fast.
Although those differences sometimes left me puzzled, I kept bringing the planner to life on screen.
05 / What Remained
Unfortunately, the original program no longer survives. I still have only some of the documents I used to propose its development to the company president.
As I remember it, the software ran on something around MS-DOS 4.0 and Windows 3.0. I developed it using a database I trusted at the time. The exact product names and dates are now a little hazy.
Development took about a year, if I remember correctly. Eventually, I was asked to show the nearly finished planner to the board.
06 / The Planner That Never Went on Sale
That was one of the reactions during the presentation to the board. The response was certainly not a bad one.
Even so, partly because it was a product for individual users, it never went on sale.
After that, I spent several years leading accounting software development and training other developers. When my father became unwell, I returned to my family home. I still regret that I could not stay with the development through to the end.
07 / 2026
How much programming can AI really do? In 2026, while trying it out to answer that question, that was how I felt.
Of course, handing everything over does not mean it will all go well. I feel that AI still struggles to organize the structure and keep the whole system consistent.
Even so, I was amazed by how it understood different technologies, combined them, and put them to use.
08 / System Note, Once Again
“In a few years, my work as a programmer might be gone.” Watching AI work, that was what I thought.
That was when I remembered System Note, the first system I had built entirely on my own.
Then why not ask AI to build that planner this time? I am a programmer, but I would let AI write the code. The new System Note began with that experiment.
09 / A Decision
At first, I tried several AI tools. Among those I tried at the time, Claude Code stood out to me for writing particularly accurate code. But it cost money—more than I could justify for my experiment.
So I set a budget of $100 a month. I would develop within that limit, without paying extra. It is something I do for fun, a challenge, and a way to think about the future of my work.
10 / Little by Little
Sometimes I reach the usage limit partway through the week or month. Even then, I have kept moving forward little by little, within what is available, without paying extra.
How far could I go in building a system? How could I explain my ideas to AI so it could turn them into something real? The development became a way to explore those questions in practice.
AI writes the code. I decide what to make.
11 / It Took More Than One Try
I started with System Note. Even getting the screens to look reasonably polished took a great deal of effort.
Small layout details, and interactions I wanted to keep consistent across every feature, were hard to get right. I broke the instructions into smaller pieces and asked for revisions again and again.
I looked at what AI had made and tried it out myself. By repeating that process, it slowly began to take shape.
12 / Three Expressions
Partway through, I began to want versions with different designs. From that came the futuristic PrismNote and Watoji, with its Japanese feel.
Here too, I kept checking the screens and how things worked, making changes over and over. It finally reached a point where I could show it to you, so I made this website.
One developer and AI, creating a digital planner once again. That journey has led to these three notebooks.
System Note
I started with System Note. Its roots were in the ring planner I had used, with many different types of inserts bound together.
I wanted that convenience again: schedules, contacts, and ideas, all in one notebook. To make the screen feel like a planner, I went over the small details of layout and interaction again and again.
13 / What I Want to Leave Behind
Information keeps growing in the cloud and on social media. It is convenient, but sometimes I feel as though I am swimming through information rather than managing it myself.
The information I need, the people who matter to me, the things I love, and the memories I want to keep. I want to choose from them, rather than keep everything, and bring those choices together in one notebook.
You don’t need to move every photo and every record here. “This is something I want to keep close.” This notebook is for making that choice.
14 / What I Want to Keep
The information you keep in this planner reflects who you are today. It may also be something you want to leave for your family.
I think everyone will use it in their own way. For me, as its developer, I want to fill it with things I can leave for my family.
What mattered to me, who I spent time with, and how I lived each day. I hope this planner can convey those things through the records I choose to keep.
Afterword / Y.K
While making this planner, I have thought about what I want to leave behind. There are useful features and so much information. Even so, I believe that what remains in the end is love.
Who did I spend time with? Who helped me? Who do I want to thank? I want to record those things, too, in the notebook I leave for my family.
Here, I have included words for love from around the world, along with a reflection on love that I asked AI to write. Thank you for reading to the very last page.
from Y.KAn AI Reflection on Love / An AI Contribution
I think love is expressed less by making someone be what we want, and more by protecting the space for them to be themselves. Listening without rushing them. Asking what help they need when they are struggling. Respecting their dignity, even when we differ.
That care can live on in our records, too. Writing someone’s name thoughtfully. Remembering what they taught us. Putting “thank you” into words while we still can. Someone who opens the notebook later may find evidence of a person who cared about them. I believe even a single short line written for that reason can carry love.
This reflection was written by AI in response to a question from Y.K.
LOVE AROUND THE WORLD
I believe what remains in the end is love.
