Japan
Sherlock Holmes reached Japan for the first time in 1894 in an abridged Japanese version of ”The Man with the Twisted Lip.” This was published in the January issue of the magazine “Nippon-jin”, translated from a French translation by Maurice LeBlanc.
But it was not until the 1950s with the translation of all 60 stories in the canon by Ken Nobuhara, that the notoriety of Holmes as a figure spread across Japan. When The Japan Sherlock Holmes Club was founded in 1977, there were 95 different Japanese translations of Holmes stories. Holmes remains the most well-known English person in Japan, followed distantly by the Beatles and Princess Diana.
Japanese
Classic Mysteries vol. 04 – Ahenkutu no Otoko (Man in the Opium Den) / translated by Akio Ishida.
Tokyo: Paroru-sha, 1996. 116 p.
Contents: The Man with the Twisted Lip.
Japanese
Nazo no Emoji / translated by Oki Kazuo.
Tokyo: Kyoya Shuppan sha, 1946. 232 p.
Contents: The Dancing Men and four other stories.
Japanese
Sherlock Holmes Saigo no Aisatsu (Last Bow) / translated by Ken Nobuhara. Tokyo: Hayakawa Publishing, 1952. 310 p.
Contents: His Last Bow.
Japanese
Sherlock Holmes Zensyu (Sherlock Holmes, all cases) / translated by Ken Nobuhara.
Tokyo: Shinchô-sha, 1956. 5 volumes.