Isaac Asimov — I, ROBOT & THE REST OF THE ROBOTS 1963 & 1969 Japan First Ed Set w/ Slipcase

Isaac Asimov — I, Robot & The Rest of the Robots 

Hayakawa Shobo , Tokyo. Complete 2-Volume Set. Both True First Japanese Editions, First Printings.

• I, Robot — 1963 (Showa 38), September 15. Hayakawa SF Series No. 3054. With original slipcase (partial). Cover design by Naito Masatoshi.
• The Rest of the Robots — 1969 (Showa 44), April 15. Hayakawa SF Series No. 3215.

Translated by Fusa Obi Japan's foremost SF translator.

In 1942, a 22-year-old biochemistry student named Isaac Asimov published a short story containing three simple rules governing the behavior of robots. He called them the Three Laws of Robotics. Eighty years later, those three laws are cited in boardrooms at OpenAI, DeepMind, and the EU AI Act working groups. The conversation Asimov started has never been more urgent — and this two-volume set represents the precise moment that conversation entered the Japanese imagination.

I, Robot (1950 in English; 1963 in Japan — this copy) collected the foundational Robot stories: Susan Calvin, the robopsychologist; Speedy, the robot stranded on Mercury; the philosophical paradoxes of machines that cannot harm, cannot disobey, cannot lie. The cover design was executed by Naito Masatoshi the visionary photographer and ethnologist whose lens documented Japan's vanishing folk traditions and whose visual imagination shaped some of the most distinctive book design of the Showa era. His bat-motif cover for this volume reads today as pure retro-futurist art: a design that belongs simultaneously to 1963 and to now.

The Rest of the Robots (1964 in English; 1969 in Japan — this copy) extended the Robot universe with eight additional stories and two novels, deepening the ethical architecture Asimov had constructed. Together, these two volumes constitute the complete foundation of Asimov's Robot canon in Japanese translation.

CONDITION

Good Vintage Condition 

I, Robot Slipcase: Present but with upper third missing. Remaining portion intact and structurally sound. Natural age-toning consistent with 63 years.

• I, Robot — Interior: Handwritten annotation present on table of contents page. All other pages clean and free of writing.
• Covers: Both volumes retain strong color and legible text. Natural vintage rubbing at edges consistent with age.
• Binding: Both volumes tight and secure.
• Interior & Pages: Natural age-toning consistent with period paper stock. Free of tears or severe staining.

*Please carefully review all high-resolution listing photos to assess the detailed vintage condition. We believe in complete transparency.

[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. Language is no longer a barrier to owning this rare piece of international history.