Dracula — Bram Stoker 1967 First ed Nakajima Kotaro. Chuu-Ichi Bunko No. 4 Gothic-Horror

[PRODUCT SPECIFICATIONS]

• Original Author: Bram Stoker
• Adaptation : Nakajima Kotaro 
• Title: 魔人ドラキュラ (Majin Dracula)
• Series: (Chuu-Ichi Bunko), No. 4
• Publisher: Ohbunsha 
• Year Published: 1967 (Showa 42)
• Issued as: Third supplementary booklet (第3付録) to Chuu-Ichi Jidai  July 1967 issue
• Format: Bunkoban  approx. 64 pages. Two-color cover (red and black); black-and-white interior illustrations signed "HID/URA".
• Language: Japanese
• Inclusions: Original publisher's clear protective cover (as issued), still present

[OVERVIEW]

In 1967, Obunsha — one of Japan's leading educational publishers — issued this remarkable object: a pocket-sized adaptation of Bram Stoker's Dracula, retold for Japanese junior high school students by Nakajima Kotaro, one of the most distinguished figures in Japanese mystery and detective fiction criticism. Distributed not through bookshops but as a free supplement tucked inside the July 1967 issue of Chuu-Ichi Jidai (中一時代), a mass-circulation study magazine for first-year junior high students, this booklet was never sold commercially and never reprinted. It existed, briefly, in the hands of a generation of thirteen-year-olds — and almost none of it survived.

The cover — a stark, two-color composition of crimson and black, depicting a young woman clutching a crucifix as Dracula looms behind her — is a masterpiece of low-budget graphic design: lurid, urgent, and entirely effective. The interior illustrations, signed by the artist "HID/URA", capture the gothic atmosphere of the Carpathian journey with a confident, expressionist line. Nakajima Kotaro's adaptation strips Stoker's sprawling epistolary novel to its essential terror, delivering it in clean, accessible prose that retains the dread of the original.

[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 Japanese publishing history.

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

1. Historical & Documentary Value: Supplementary booklets issued with Japanese study magazines of the 1960s are among the most ephemeral objects in postwar Japanese publishing. Distributed free, read once, and discarded, they survive in vanishingly small numbers. A copy in collectible condition — retaining its vivid two-color cover and complete interior — is a genuine rarity. Online bibliographic records for this specific title are almost nonexistent.
2. Literary & Cultural Value: Nakajima Kotaro (1917–2004) was not a hack adapter: he was a founding figure of Japanese mystery criticism, editor of landmark anthologies, and a scholar of international standing. His decision to retell Dracula for junior high students in 1967 — the same year Japan's horror publishing boom was gathering force — places this booklet at the intersection of literary history and popular culture.
3. Visual Value: The two-color cover design and the "HID/URA" interior illustrations represent a distinct strand of Japanese commercial illustration of the mid-Showa period — bold, economical, and deeply atmospheric. As a graphic artifact, this booklet stands entirely on its own.

[CONDITION]

Good Vintage Condition — Outstanding Survival for a Disposable Supplementary Booklet

• Cover: The two-color (red and black) cover retains strong graphic impact. Protected by the original publisher's clear plastic cover, which remains present — an exceptional survival detail that speaks to the care with which this copy has been kept. Light age-toning to edges consistent with nearly 60 years of natural patina. No tears, no writing.
• Binding: Secure and intact. Staple-bound, as issued.
• Page Edges (Fore-edge): Minor age-spotting to the fore-edge — light and entirely consistent with the age and paper quality of the original printing.
• Endpapers: Minor age-toning to the endpapers — a natural characteristic of mid-Showa newsprint. No writing, no stamps, no ownership marks.
• Interior & Pages: No writing, no clipping, no damage. The text and illustrations are clean and fully legible throughout.
• Please carefully inspect all high-resolution listing photos to verify the exceptional vintage condition.