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JAPAN
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 AKIMOTO 
1956 - ?
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 Japanse 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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Nancy's
Mysterious Letter. Artwork copyright © 1956 by
Akimoto Publishing, Japan.
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Japanese Title
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English Translation
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American Title
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Stairway of secret
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The Hidden Staircase
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Strange letter
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Nancy's Mysterious Letter
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Secret of musical score
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The Secret in the Old Attic
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STAR
CORPORATION OF
GOLD
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 |
The Clue of
the Tapping Heels Artwork copyright © 1972 by Star
Corporation of Gold, Japan.
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No.
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Japanese Title
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Translation
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American Title
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1
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Girl detective Nancy?
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Tapping Heels
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5
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waiting child, pillar old clock
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Old Clock
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9
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Nancy participating
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Twisted Candles
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15
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secret of residence of green
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Moss Covered Mansion
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24
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shadow ranches
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Shadow Ranch
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26
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night of storms
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Whispering Statue?
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27
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white hand, black face
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Ivory Charm
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Original (??) cover from 1967
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Revised cover from 1980s
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internal from the Star Corporation books (it's the crazy
cat lady from Tapping Heels, of course!)
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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.
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Large hardback with color illustrated cover of fairy
tale images, glossy color
DJ: 8 1/2" H x 6" W
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The Secret of Red
Gate Farm. Artwork copyright © 1974? by ??, Japan.
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YOMIURI SHIMBUN
late 1970s - mid 1980s
"Nanshi
Doruu"
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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The Clue of
the Velvet Mask, copyright © 1976 by The Yomiuri
Shimbun, Japan.
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Dust jacket wrapper advertising with Pamela Sue
Martin photo (TV tie-in)
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This is an example of the kind of internals fround
in the Yomiuri books.
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Titles #1-10 in Japanese Characters (from right to
left)
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No.
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Japanese Title
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Possible U.S. Title
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Translation
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1
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Techo No Himitu
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Clue in the Diary
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The secret of the notebook
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2
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Maboroshi No Hakuba
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Shadow Ranch
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The white horse phantom
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3
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Nusu mareta gaku hu
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Old Attic
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The stolen score
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4
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Shiroi Himitu Kettusha
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Red Gate Farm
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The secret white organization
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5
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Larkspar Sou No Nazo
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Larkspur Lane
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The secret of Larkspur
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6
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Kojyo No Yuurei sen
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Wooden Lady
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The ghost ship on the lake
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7
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Kieta Primadonna
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Crumbling Wall
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The missing prima donna
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8
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Organ Wo hiku Bourei
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Blackwood Hall
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The ghost playing the organ
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9
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Biroudo No Kamen
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Velvet Mask
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The velvet mask
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10
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Kegawa Kouto No himitu
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Ski Jump
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The secret of the fur coat
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Text on the dust jacket translates to: "Nancy Drew is an
18-year-old girl who has excellent courage and power of deduction.
She challenges to many mysteries with her best friends, Bess and
George."
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FOUR
BUNKO - 1998 -
present
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. So far there
are 6 titles in print, and plans may be underway for further books in
the series.
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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The Secret
of the Old Clock. Artwork by Maciko Tanimura, copyright
© 1998 by Ko Doi, Yuri Fujiwara, Japan.
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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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This internal comes from Old Clock (duh!).
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Japanese Title in characters
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U.S. Title
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Year
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Old Clock
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1998
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Shadow Ranch
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1999
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Twisted Candles
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1998
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Whispering Statue
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1999
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Tapping Heels
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1998
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Moss-Covered Mansion
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1999
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STAR
CORPORATION OF
GOLD
2007
Star Corporation of Gold re-entered the market again with
these translations of these titles from the Girl Detective series.
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.
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Mass Market size paperback? XX" XX" W??
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Without a Trace. Artwork by Selfish Gene(?), copyright
© 2007 by Star Corporation of Gold, Japan.
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American Title |
Year |
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Without a Trace |
2007 |
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A Race Against Time |
2007 |
*
The following article was issued
the Mystery & Adventure Review (Issue #7, Winter
1981)
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.
OTHER EDITIONS - DETAILS
UNKNOWN
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Nurture 1959
(Ivory Charm)
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Poplar 1968
(Missing Map)
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Poplar 1980
(Ringmaster's Secret)
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Star 1988
(Blackwood Hall)
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