# Is "Ring (Ringu)" by Koji Suzuki a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Ring (Ringu) by Koji Suzuki (Kadokawa Shoten, Tokyo, 1991) is identified by: The true first is the Japanese hardcover (単行本) published by Kadokawa Shoten, Tokyo, June 1991, ISBN 4-04-872645-5. The Japanese Kadokawa Shoten hardcover (Tokyo, June 1991) is the true first and precedes any English text by twelve years; the Vertical (New York, 2003) hardcover is the first edition in English, and both are collected.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- The true first is the Japanese hardcover (単行本) published by Kadokawa Shoten, Tokyo, June 1991, ISBN 4-04-872645-5
- Japanese first printings are identified at the colophon (奥付) in the rear, which carries the printing date and the 初版 (shohan / first edition) statement — later Kadokawa printings of the same 1991 hardcover differ only there — and a complete copy retains the original obi (belly band)
- The first English edition is Vertical, Inc., New York, 2003, ISBN 1-932234-00-4, hardcover, 286 pp., translated by Robert B. Rohmer and Glynne Walley, jacket designed by Chip Kidd; specialist dealers catalogue it as the first American edition, in a jacket with the price present at the flap
- No first-state text errors are documented for either edition
- Publisher imprint reads Kadokawa Shoten, Tokyo
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Koji Suzuki |
| Publisher | Kadokawa Shoten, Tokyo |
| Year | 1991 |
| True first | UK edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | The true first is the Japanese hardcover (単行本) published by Kadokawa Shoten, Tokyo, June 1991, ISBN 4-04-872645-5 |
| Book-club edition exists? | No |

## Points of issue
The true first is the Japanese hardcover (単行本) published by Kadokawa Shoten, Tokyo, June 1991, ISBN 4-04-872645-5. Japanese first printings are identified at the colophon (奥付) in the rear, which carries the printing date and the 初版 (shohan / first edition) statement — later Kadokawa printings of the same 1991 hardcover differ only there — and a complete copy retains the original obi (belly band). The first English edition is Vertical, Inc., New York, 2003, ISBN 1-932234-00-4, hardcover, 286 pp., translated by Robert B. Rohmer and Glynne Walley, jacket designed by Chip Kidd; specialist dealers catalogue it as the first American edition, in a jacket with the price present at the flap. No first-state text errors are documented for either edition.

## Is this the true first?
The Japanese Kadokawa Shoten hardcover (Tokyo, June 1991) is the true first and precedes any English text by twelve years; the Vertical (New York, 2003) hardcover is the first edition in English, and both are collected. The HarperCollins UK editions (2004; revised 2007, ISBN 9780007240135) follow Vertical and are not the first English appearance. The census claim is confirmed.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
No Western-style book-club issue applies. The reprint traps are the Kadokawa Horror Bunko paperback (24 April 1993, ISBN 4-04-188001-7), which is where the book's mass readership actually began and is very commonly offered as "the 1991 first," and the post-1998 film tie-in printings. On the English side, the HarperCollins 2004 and revised 2007 texts are "first thus," not firsts.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Ring (Ringu)* by Koji Suzuki a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/ring-ringu
CC BY 4.0. Part of the Canonical First-Edition Points of Issue dataset (https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/api/first-edition-titles.json). Last reviewed 2026-07-04.