How to identify the Japanese first edition of Philosopher's Stone

The answer is printed at the back of the book, in the colophon.

Japanese books carry their own birth certificate. At the back of a Japanese hardcover sits the colophon, the okudzuke: a small printed block that names the publisher, the translator, the issue date, and, crucially, the printing. A true first printing of the Say-zan-sha Philosopher's Stone announces itself there. You do not need to guess from the cover, the obi, or a seller's description: you open the back and read the printing line.

The edition to look for is specific. Publisher: Say-zan-sha of Tokyo. Translator: Yuko Matsuoka, whose Japanese rendering became the standard text. Format: an A5 hardcover of 464 pages, listed at 1,900 yen. ISBN: 978-4-915512-37-7. Publication: December 1999. Copies meeting every one of those points, with a first printing line in the colophon, are the first edition.

One honesty note belongs on this page. This is an identification exercise, not a rarity claim. Harry Potter was a phenomenon in Japan as everywhere else, and the print runs were enormous: Philosopher's Stone sold in the millions in Japan, and the first printing of Prisoner of Azkaban alone ran to some 800,000 copies. A verified Japanese first printing is a documented, collectible object. It is not a scarce one, and any seller pricing it as if only a handful exist is selling a story the colophon does not support.

THE FORMAT, IN HAND

What the first edition looks like

Japanese Say-zan-sha Philosopher's Stone with obi

The obi copy

The orange obi sash is advertising, printed separately and folded on. It is desirable on a copy, and it is usually discarded: its absence proves nothing either way.

The series format

The A5 hardcover format and Schlesinger art continued across the run, so a shelf of Say-zan-sha hardcovers reads as one designed set.

Later volumes

From Goblet of Fire the books split in two, each half a full hardcover with its own cover painting and its own colophon.

THE CHECKLIST

Five points, in order

Publisher

Say-zan-sha, Tokyo. The imprint is the foundation: no Say-zan-sha colophon, no Say-zan-sha first edition.

The colophon line

The okudzuke at the back prints the issue date and the printing number. First edition copies state the first printing there, in Japanese.

ISBN 978-4-915512-37-7

The Philosopher's Stone ISBN. Check it against the colophon rather than a listing title, since later formats carry different numbers.

464 pages, 1,900 yen

The A5 hardcover's page count and list price are printed edition facts, and both belong to the December 1999 original.

The obi

A present, intact obi is a bonus, never a requirement. Japanese readers threw them away by the million, exactly as the publisher expected.

The scale check

Millions of copies exist. Verify the printing for the record and the shelf, and price it as the common, beloved book it is.

How to identify the Japanese first edition of Philosopher's Stone

THE FORMAT, IN HAND

THE CHECKLIST

THE FIRST WORD