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It is unclear whether the Stratemeyer Syndicate ever
authorized any of the early Japanese editions - various
publishers would translate a couple of the titles and then never
continue with further editions. The most commonly found of
the formats described below are the Yomiuri books from the 1970s
and the Four Bunko books from the 1990s.
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AKIMOTO 秋元書房
1956 ジュニアシリーズ Three titles from Nancy Drew were published as part of the Junior Mystery Stories series, which also included titles by Maud Hart Lovelace, Anne Emery and Betty Cavanna. The covers feature Nancy as a very fashionable young lady of the1950s and her outfit is complete with white kid gloves and crinoline petticoat. Nancy is equally well dressed on the other volumes. The title is written in English as well as Japanese on the cover. There are no internal illustrations. |
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Softcover with color photograph superimposed on illustrated cover, cover is laminated with reinforced plastic and has flaps: 7 1/2" H x 5" W |
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Japanese Title
English Translation
American Title
秘密の階段
Stairway of secret
The Hidden Staircase
不思議な手紙
Strange letter
Nancy's Mysterious Letter
楽譜の秘密
Secret of musical score
The Secret in the Old Attic
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POPLAR ポプラ社 1968 Once again a few Nancy Drew stories were incorporated
into a larger series entitled Junior World Mystery
Stories and which featured 20 books, including Judy
Bolton, Penny Parker, Vicki Barr and various Agatha
Christie mysteries. The "masked sleuth" logo that
appeared on the spines is adorable (and the black box
surrounding the head-in-a-circle format is quite
reminiscent of the yellow spine PCs that would have been
in print around this time). There is very nice original artwork on the cover, a
color frontispiece and black and white line drawings
throughout the text. The title is written in English as well as Japanese on
the cover. |
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Hardback with color dust jacket 7 3/8"H x 5 1/4" W;
picture cover with same illustration on dust
jacket. Title, Junior Sekai spine symbol, volume # |
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Japanese Title
English Translation
American Title
# within series
赤い舞踏靴の秘密
secret of red dance shoes
Scarlet Slipper
2/20
幽霊の階段
stairway of ghost
Hidden Staircase
10/20
消えた地図の行くえ
The obtaining where the map goes
Missing Map
14/20
ライラック・インの謎
puzzle of Lilac Inn
Lilac Inn
15/20
ふしぎな手紙
strange letter
Mysterious Letter
19/20
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STAR CORPORATION OF GOLD 金の星社 1962? - 1989? This is a series of 30 titles called the "Girl Worldwide Inference Masterpiece Selected Works" which is a mixed bag of girl sleuth stories. Besides the 7 Nancy Drews, other girl sleuths in the series that we recognize are the Dana Girls, Judy Bolton, Kay Tracey Vicki Barr and Beverly Gray. The original books from this publisher came in hardback which was then inserted into a box (in the image to the right, the one with the eyes at the top and individualized artwork is the box, the one with the 4 generic panels and "Mystery For Girls" is the book). Later editions were republished in the 1980s and used the same artwork that was on the box but instead printed it on a DJ. Also added was a teal diamond pattern below the artwork. I have also seen paperback versions. |
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| Hardback with color illustrated cover, glossy color DJ: 7 1/2" H x 5 1/4" W |
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No. |
Japanese Title |
Translation |
American Title |
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1 |
少女探偵ナンシー |
Girl detective Nancy? |
Tapping Heels |
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5 |
古い柱時計の秘密 |
waiting child, pillar old clock |
Old Clock |
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9 |
ナンシーの活躍 |
Nancy participating |
Twisted Candles |
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15 |
緑の屋敷の秘密 |
secret of residence of green |
Moss Covered Mansion |
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24 |
シャドー牧場の秘密 |
shadow ranches |
Shadow Ranch |
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26 |
あらしの夜の出来事 |
night of storms |
Whispering Statue? |
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27 |
白い顔黒い手 |
white hand, black face |
Ivory Charm |
Original (??) cover from 1967 |
Revised cover from 1980s |
internal from the Star Corporation books (it's the crazy cat lady from Tapping Heels, of course!) |
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YOMIURI SHIMBUN 読売新聞社 late 1970s - mid 1980s ナンシー・ドルー ・シリーズ "Nanshi
Doruu" series This 10-title series was produced by American Junior Mystery Books and appears to have been in publication for about 10 years. These are the most commonly found of the Japanese Nancys in the resale market. They were translated by John C. McCaleb and Kaji Onose. Some volumes included a wraparound advertisement featuring Pamela Sue Martin which is a tie-in with the television series produced by ABC in the late 1970s. * see article from the fanzine Mystery and Adventure Review (issue #7) written by Don Holbrook, of which the full text has been transcribed below. |
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glossy hardback book with matching DJ (same images) 7 5/8" x 5"; book opens on left side (the Japanese part of the DJ to the right is the front cover); silver spine with Nancy logo |
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Titles #1-10 in Japanese Characters (from right to left)
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No. |
Japanese Title |
Phonetic Japanese Title |
U.S. Title |
Translation |
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1 |
手帳の秘密 |
Techo No Himitu |
Clue in the Diary |
The secret of the notebook |
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2 |
幻の白馬 |
Maboroshi No Hakuba |
Shadow Ranch |
The white horse phantom |
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3 |
盗まれた楽譜 |
Nusu mareta gaku hu |
Old Attic |
The stolen score |
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4 |
白い秘密結社 |
Shiroi Himitu Kettusha |
Red Gate Farm |
The secret white organization |
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5 |
ラークスパー荘の謎 |
Larkspar Sou No Nazo |
Larkspur Lane |
The secret of Larkspur |
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6 |
湖上の幽霊船 |
Kojyo No Yuurei sen |
Wooden Lady |
The ghost ship on the lake |
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7 |
消えたプリマドンナ |
Kieta Primadonna |
Crumbling Wall |
The missing prima donna |
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8 |
オルガンをひく亡霊 |
Organ Wo hiku Bourei |
Blackwood Hall |
The ghost playing the organ |
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9 |
ビロードの仮面 |
Biroudo No Kamen |
Velvet Mask |
The velvet mask |
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10 |
毛皮コートの秘密 |
Kegawa Kouto No himitu |
Ski Jump |
The secret of the fur coat |
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FOUR BUNKO フォア文庫 1998 - early
2000's These books were begun to be reprinted in 1998, and may or may not be affiliated with some of the titles released earlier as many of the titles are repeated. Only 6 titles were released. The cover and internals feature the favored "manga" style of drawing popular in Japan - doesn't Nancy remind you a little of Sailor Moon here? Nancy is always depicted in this pink Sherlock Homes type outfit. The book opens from left to right (in other words, the spine is on the right side). It is a tan color, with black and white lines drawings. There is a glossy, full-color dust jacket with a logo of Nancy on the spine. |
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Mass Market size light brown paperback with glossy cover DJ: 6 3/4" H x 4 1/2" W |
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This gallery of characters comes from the copy of Moss-Covered Mansion and shows "Nanshi" a very talented, exceptional 16-year-old girl with a knack for investigation. Also featured are Carson "Mr. Doru-u" - Nancy's very famous father, "Bessu" and "Giogie" who is described as a friend of Nanshi's, a young girl who has adopted a boy's name. |
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Japanese Title in characters |
U.S. Title |
Year |
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古い柱時計の秘密 |
Old Clock |
1998 |
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シャドー牧場の秘密 |
Shadow Ranch |
1999 |
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ナンシーの活躍 |
Twisted Candles |
1998 |
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あらしの夜のできごと |
Whispering Statue |
1999 |
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少女探偵ナンシー |
Tapping Heels |
1998 |
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緑の屋敷の秘密 |
Moss-Covered Mansion |
1999 |
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STAR CORPORATION OF GOLD 金の星社
Tokyo - 2007-present Once again, as befits books published for Japanese
girls, the cover illustrations for the Star books are in
the "manga" cartoon style. The figures are very
action oriented and hip. Although the manga
techniques are employed here, the flavor of these books
is quite different in style from the US graphic novels,
where Nancy seems more mature. The flimsy paperback cover features the same
illustration as on the heavy duty dust jacket, only it
is reproduced in a two-toned version. There are
many greyscale illustrations inside as well as a cast of
characters gallery at the beginning. |
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Digest size paperback with dust jacket 7 1/2" H X 5" W |
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| Japanese Title | American Title | Year |
| ファベルジェの卵 |
Without a Trace | 2007 |
| 戦線離脱 |
A Race Against Time | 2007 |
| ドルー ファッションデザイナーの疑惑 |
Dressed to Steal | 2008 |
| ドルー ハリウッド映画殺人事件 |
Murder on the Set | 2008 |
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TSOGEN 東京創元社 Tokyo
2007-present ナンシー・ドルー・ミステリ Yet another publisher in the Japanese market emerged in
2007, possibly in conjunction with the release of the
Emma Roberts movie. These books are smaller and
inexpensively made. They produced stories from
the classic series using the US numbering system.
The release dates were quite sporadic and several times
I thought they were done and then another title would
appear. However, since it has now been about 4
years since the last release, I think that there will
not be doing any more titles. I managed to purchase a few of these titles during a trip I made to Japan in 2008. In the Japanese bookstore they were stocked in the adult mystery section, not with the childrens books. |
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Mass Market size paperback 5 7/8"H x 4 1/4" W. Lightweight glossy cover with paper overlay |
copyright © 2009 by Tsogen, Tokyo, Japan. |
| Japanese Title | American Title | Year |
| 古時計の秘密 |
The Secret of the Old Clock | 2007 |
| 幽霊屋敷の謎 |
The Hidden Staircase | 2007 |
| バンガローの事件 |
The Bungalow Mystery | 2008 |
| ライラック・ホテルの怪事件 |
The Mystery at Lilac Inn | 2008 |
| シャドー牧場の秘密 |
The Secret of Shadow Ranch | 2009 |
| レッド・ゲート農場の秘密 |
The Secret of Red Gate Farm |
2009 |
| 日記の手がかり |
The Clue in the Diary |
2010 |
| ナンシーの謎の手紙 |
Nancy's
Mysterious Letter |
2012 |
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| MASTERPIECE
1974 - ? (at least as late as 1982) This is another series created for young readers which features a single story from the Nancy Drew series, in this case it is Red Gate Farm (easily distinguishable by the KKK disguises). In this artwork Nancy appears quite childish, around the age of 11-12, and she is always dressed in shortened skirts with white socks and red Mary Janes. My guess is that this series was aimed at a younger audience. There are full page color illustrations throughout the story as well as several black and white line drawings. |
STAR
CORPORATION OF GOLD 金の星社 1985-8 Yet another publication from Star, this may have been a
single edition from yet another series loosely
translated as "Door to Literature." Only Blackwood
Hall was produced this time. The cover illustration is very beautiful and intricate
and is attributed to 佐藤弘之 Hiroyuki Sato.
There are interesting "pointallist" illustrations
throughout. |
RONSO-SHA
論創海外ミステリ - 2014 ナンシー・ドルーの事件簿 (Case Files of Nancy Drew) Based on the tagline of "case files" it would appear that the publisher planned on producing more than one title, but so far only Jewel Box has been released. It's a mystery why they started with this particular title. The cover of the book is very plain, the DJ has the black and white design with gold accents and there are no internal illustrations. |
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Large hardback with color illustrated cover of fairy tale images, glossy color DJ: 8 1/2" H x 6" W |
Large
hardback 8"H x 6 1/8"W; picture cover with same
illustration as dust
jacket |
Hardback with
dust jacket 7 5/8"H x 5 3/8"W |
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(Ivory Charm) |
(Ringmaster's Secret) |
NANCY DREW IN JAPANESE
by Don Holbrook
Back from a globe-trotting tour of points in the Far East, the traveler unpacked a bundle of Japanese copies of series-books, and gesturing at the cluster of book fans lurking around his desk, he remarked: "You guys can fight over these."
From the volumes that were not instantly torn to shreds in the ensuing melee, it has been possible to get an idea of the form in which these mystery-adventure stories have appeared on the other side of the world. Production methods of the books are far superior to those used for similar adventure novels in this country, but in many ways it is a matter of overkill and unnecessary replication.
Like their American counterparts, the books are picture-cover editions in hard boards, containing about 220 pages. These cover illustrations are lavish, in full color on both front and back of the books. Being read in the opposite direction to books in English, the front cover is at the "back", i.e., with the spine to the right, and on this side the Japanese title is printed in red and black on a silver background, followed by a red band with black letters, which says: (in Japanese script) "American Junior Series." On the reverse side of the book is the American title, with the color illustration cropped in a circle and printed inside a red band.
But that isn't all: folded over the books are slick-paper dust-jackets carrying the same scene and printing as the picture covers, on both front and back; and over THIS is a secondary dust jacket, of yellow paper, carrying advertisements for both Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew books, and information about the NHK television series appearances of these characters.
Dust-jacket flaps and pages inside the books summarize the story and give credits (along with pictures) for the translators. A further pictorial title page on slick paper is placed just inside the end-papers, which are in both series printed with maps of the United States. Following a second title page and a list of chapter headings, there is a "cast of characters" for the series, giving American names in Japanese "katakana" script which is used for all such transliterations.... The books are in a different order from U.S. ones, and are apparently translated revised editions.
Return ND Home Page See Where Nancy Has Traveled in Japan Sales Page © 2001, 2004, 2007, 2016 Lea Shangraw Fox Last updated 3 May 2016
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