It's a Zelda Year: the remake is here. Shop the Zelda shelf →
SOJ Japanese Zelda Books
The Zelda Shelf

IT'S A ZELDA YEAR

Forty years of Zelda, a rebuilt Ocarina of Time, and a movie on the way. The Japanese shelf is ready for it.

See the Zelda Shelf

THE GUIDES

Twilight Princess, five Japanese editions
Twilight Princess Shogakukan official guidebook, Japanese edition
Shogakukan · 2007
The official guidebook. Wii only. Japan never got a GameCube guide.
See the book Twilight Princess Enterbrain Perfect Guide, Japanese edition
Enterbrain · 2007
The Famitsu Perfect Guide. It even notes where the GameCube version differs.
See the book Twilight Princess Nintendo DREAM guide, Japanese edition
Nintendo DREAM · 2007
The Nintendo specialist magazine's own guide. The black Triforce cover.
See the book Twilight Princess Kadokawa Complete Guide, Japanese edition
Kadokawa · 2007
The Complete Guide. The white cover, and the biggest of the four at 350 pages.
See the book Twilight Princess HD Shogakukan official guidebook, Japanese edition
Shogakukan · 2016
The Wii U remaster's official guide, nine years after the first four.
See the book

Japan published 32 licensed Zelda guide books across the classic titles. Twilight Princess alone received four in 2007, and every one of them was branded for the Wii. No GameCube guide exists in Japan: there, the GameCube version of the game was sold only through Nintendo's online store, so no publisher ever made one. The separate GameCube guide that collectors know is an American Prima edition.

THE ART BOOKS

Japan on the left, America on the right
Hyrule Historia, Japanese Shogakukan edition
Japan · Shogakukan 2011
Hyrule Historia, American Dark Horse edition
America · Dark Horse 2013
Completely different coversJapan kept it plain: brown, with only the gold 25th anniversary crest.
Hyrule Graphics, Japanese Tokuma edition
Japan · Tokuma 2016
Art and Artifacts, American Dark Horse edition
America · Dark Horse 2017
Completely different coversGreen with a collage band in Japan. Red, with a bolder crest, in America.
Hyrule Encyclopedia, Japanese Tokuma edition
Japan · Tokuma 2017
The Legend of Zelda Encyclopedia, American Dark Horse edition
America · Dark Horse 2018
Same emblem, different treatmentThe gold Triforce emblem is identical. The field and frame around it are Japan only.
Breath of the Wild Master Works, Japanese Tokuma edition
Japan · Tokuma 2017
Creating a Champion, American Dark Horse edition
America · Dark Horse 2018
Same painting, different treatmentOne Champions painting. A small strip in Japan, the whole cover in America.
Tears of the Kingdom Master Works, Japanese Tokuma edition
Japan · Tokuma 2024
Secrets of the Zonai, American Dark Horse edition, pre-release cover
America · Dark Horse 2027
Completely different coversThe American cover is pre-release and may still change before the book ships.

Some Japanese books share their art with the American editions. Most do not. Three of the five pairs above wear covers that exist only in Japan, and even where the art is shared, the Japanese production frames it differently. That is why the Japanese shelf looks different, and why collectors hunt both.

MORE FROM THE ZELDA ARCHIVE →
One shelf of eighty-two in the Library. Browse them all →

THE FIRST WORD

New pages and new pieces, first.