Fahrenheit 451 Ray Bradbury 1956. First Edition. With Slipcase, Clear Cover & Character Bookmark.

[PRODUCT SPECIFICATIONS]

• Author: Ray Bradbury
• Translator: Naminoi Keiji (南井慶二)
• Title: 華氏四五一度 (Kashi Yonjuuichido / Fahrenheit 451)
• Series: 最新科学小説全集 第7巻 (Gengensha Science Fiction Series, Vol. 7)
• Publisher: Gengensha (元々社), Tokyo — Kanda Surugadai 2-1
• Year Published: 1956 (Showa 31) — First Edition, First Printing. Printed June 20; Published June 25, 1956.
• Translation Rights: Arranged through Charles E. Tuttle Co., Tokyo. Stated: 「本邦未紹介新訳」 (First Japanese translation, previously unpublished in Japan).
• Format: Hardcover in slipcase with original vinyl protective cover. Full-colour frontispiece. Black-and-white interior illustrations. Character list bookmark (laid in).
• Language: Japanese
• Inclusions: Slipcase (present, with staining to rear); original vinyl cover (present, intact); character list bookmark (laid in — extremely rare survival)

[OVERVIEW]

June 1956. Three years after Ray Bradbury published Fahrenheit 451 with Ballantine Books in New York, Gengensha — a small, ambitious Tokyo publisher — issued the first Japanese translation, with rights formally arranged through Charles E. Tuttle Co. The colophon states it plainly: honpou mishookai shinyaku — "a new translation, previously unpublished in Japan." This is that translation, in its original first printing, in the year of its publication.

What makes this copy extraordinary is its survival as a complete set. The original vinyl protective cover — issued with the book in 1956 and almost universally discarded within months — remains intact, still encasing the slipcase. The character list bookmark — a printed slip listing Guy Montag, Clarisse McClellan, Mildred, Beatty, Faber, Stoneman, Black, and Bowles, with their ages and roles — is laid in: a survival so rare that most collectors have never seen one. The full-colour frontispiece — Guy Montag standing in flames, his body composed of burning pages — and the black-and-white interior illustrations are unique to this 1956 Gengensha edition; they do not appear in any subsequent Japanese printing of the novel.

[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. First Japanese Edition: The first and only printing of the first Japanese translation of Fahrenheit 451 — a novel about the burning of books, issued in Japan just eleven years after the end of the war. The historical resonance is not incidental. This is a primary document of postwar Japanese SF publishing, and of the global reception of one of the twentieth century's most important dystopian novels.
2. Complete Set — Clear  cover & Slipcase: The original 1956 vinyl protective cover survives intact — an almost unheard-of survival for a nearly 70-year-old Japanese paperback accessory. Together with the slipcase, this copy presents as close to its original issued state as any collector is likely to encounter.
3. Character Bookmark: The printed character list bookmark — listing the cast of the novel with ages and roles — is laid in. This ephemeral insert was almost universally lost or discarded. Its presence here is, quite simply, exceptional.
4. Unique Illustrations: The full-colour frontispiece and black-and-white interior illustrations are exclusive to this 1956 Gengensha edition. No subsequent Japanese edition of Fahrenheit 451 reproduces them. To own this book is to own the only illustrated Japanese Fahrenheit 451.

[CONDITION]

Good Vintage Condition — Exceptional Survival as a Complete Set

• Slipcase: Present. Strong to front and spine. Significant staining to the rear panel — clearly visible and honestly represented in the listing photographs. Does not affect the book itself.
• Vinyl Cover: Present and intact. Light age-yellowing consistent with nearly 70 years — the natural patina of mid-Showa plastic.
• Book (Boards & Spine): Clean and secure beneath the vinyl cover. Binding tight and fully intact.
• Interior & Pages: Age-toning consistent with 1956 paper stock. No writing, no stamps, no ownership marks.
• Character Bookmark: Present. Light age-toning. Fully legible.
• Please carefully inspect all high-resolution listing photos to verify condition.