No ISBN, published in 1958 by Hoikusha, Osaka, Japan, with slipcase, a hardcover with dust-jacket over a blue cloth library binding with gold-leaf embossing on front cover and spine and has an attached color print on front cover, about 14 by 21 cm., 5.5 by 8.25 inches, text is in Japanese but uses standard scientific names for illustrated life forms, but without dates for their descriptions, there are 64 full-color plates for species identification and 44 one page black and white photos showing habitats and collecting methods
There is very little for shell-collectors in his book, just one plate of Chitons and one for Cephalopods, it is a wonderful book illustrating many other forms of sea-life than can be found in the waters of Japan. It is an elaborately produced book and the illustrations are extremely well done. This is a used copy and the slipcase has some stains, the dust-jacket has some wear along its edges and many of them have been reinforced from the inside with tape, the binding cover has some slight signs of wear on the top of the spine and the front edges, the body of the book appears to be in perfect condition. It is a nice book to browse through and remind ourselves that many beautiful and interesting things live in the sea along with our mollusks.
