Maurice Leblanc Arsene Lupin: Le Triangle d'Or Aisui Shobo 1947 First ed Kabashima Katsuichi

[PRODUCT SPECIFICATIONS]

• Author: Maurice Leblanc
• Translator: Hoshinoya Tatsuo 
• Cover & Frontispiece Illustration: Kabashima Katsuichi
• Title: 怪奇探偵アルセーヌ・ルパン 金三角 (Kaitei Tantei Arsene Lupin: Kin Sankaku / Le Triangle d’Or)
• Series: 怪奇探偵アルセーヌ・ルパン Vol. I (of III)
• Publisher: Aisui Shobo  Tokyo — Chiyoda-ku Kojimachi Ogawacho 1-17
• Year Published: 1947 (Showa 22) — First Edition. Printed and Published December 20, 1947.
• Publisher's Seal: Aisui Shobo author's inspection seal (著者検印) present — decorative border stamp, as required by postwar Japanese publishing regulations.
• Format: Hardcover. Illustrated cover and rear cover by Kabashima Katsuichi (continuous panoramic composition across front and rear). Coloured page edges.
• Language: Japanese
• Original Price: ¥80

[OVERVIEW]

December 1947, Tokyo. Japan is two years into the Occupation. Paper is rationed, publishing houses are reconstituting themselves from the ruins of the war, and readers are hungry for entertainment. Into this moment, Aisui Shobo issues the first volume of its Kaiki Tantei Arsene Lupin series — beginning, correctly, with Le Triangle d’Or (1918), one of Leblanc's most theatrically plotted Lupin novels, in the translation of Hoshinoya Tatsuo (保筌龍绪), the man who had been translating Lupin for Japanese readers since the prewar decades and whose name on a Lupin volume was a guarantee of fidelity to Leblanc's world.

The cover and rear cover are by Kabashima Katsuichi (樺島勝一, 1888–1965) — the most celebrated illustrator of Japanese adventure fiction and boys' magazines from the Taisho era through the postwar period, whose work defined the visual imagination of Japanese popular fiction for two generations. The cover — Lupin in top hat and cape, cigarette in gloved hand, against a Parisian gas-lamp at night in deep teal and blue — and the rear cover — the same gas-lamp, now seen from behind, the tree branches spreading against the night sky — form a single continuous panoramic composition of considerable atmospheric power. The coloured page edges — a production detail unusual for a 1947 Japanese paperback — confirm that Aisui Shobo invested in this series as a prestige publication despite the austerity of the period.

[IMPORTANT NOTE FOR INTERNATIONAL BUYERS: EASY AI TRANSLATION]

While the text is printed in Japanese, you can easily read and study this historic book using modern smartphone AI tools. By taking a photo of any page with your smartphone and using free apps like Google Lens, ChatGPT, or Google Translate, the embedded AI will instantly scan and translate the text on your screen layout. Language is no longer a barrier to owning and enjoying this rare piece of literary history.

[WHY THIS VOLUME IS A PRIZED COLLECTOR'S ITEM]

1. Kabashima Katsuichi Cover Art: Kabashima Katsuichi (樺島勝一, 1888–1965) is one of the most significant illustrators in the history of Japanese popular fiction — the artist whose work in Shonen Club and other major magazines defined the visual language of Japanese adventure and detective fiction for the prewar and postwar generations. His cover for this volume — a panoramic nocturnal Paris in deep teal, with Lupin in full theatrical regalia — is a primary example of his mature style. Books with Kabashima covers in first-edition condition are actively collected by Japanese illustration and book design enthusiasts.
2. Immediate Postwar First Edition, 1947: Published just two years after the end of the war, under paper rationing and Occupation censorship, this volume is a document of the resilience of Japanese popular publishing. The publisher's inspection seal — required by postwar regulations — is present and intact, confirming the book's authenticity as a period first printing.
3. Hoshinoya Tatsuo Translation: Hoshinoya Tatsuo is the canonical Japanese translator of Arsene Lupin — the figure through whom Leblanc's gentleman-thief entered Japanese popular culture in the prewar decades and was reintroduced to postwar readers. His name on this volume connects it to the full arc of Lupin's Japanese reception.
4. Complete Series Context: The rear advertisement lists all three volumes of the Aisui Shobo Lupin series: I. Kin Sankaku (Le Triangle d’Or), II. Hachiten Sho (Les Huit Coups de l’Horloge), III. Kaiki no Ie (La Demeure Mystérieuse). This is Vol. I — the opening volume of a postwar publishing project of real ambition.

[CONDITION]

Good Vintage Condition — Honest Survivor of 79 Years

• Spine: Significant loss of gilt lettering and surface material — the most visually prominent defect, clearly shown in listing photograph 3. The spine is structurally sound; the damage is cosmetic.
• Front Cover: Good. The Kabashima Katsuichi illustration retains full atmospheric impact. Light soiling and edge wear consistent with age.
• Rear Cover: Two areas of paper loss to upper left — clearly visible in listing photographs. The nocturnal gas-lamp composition remains legible and striking.
• Binding: Tight and fully intact despite the spine's surface condition.
• Interior & Pages: Age-toning consistent with 1947 paper stock. Clean throughout. Publisher's inspection seal present on colophon page. No writing, no clipping.
• Please carefully inspect all high-resolution listing photos to verify condition. The spine condition is clearly documented.