Secrets of Pokemon

Cover, without obi strip.

The Secrets of Pokemon is a small, 1998 booklet about Pokémon's early years in Japan. It was written by the "Pokémon Business Study Group", consisting of three people: Reiko Iwaki, Shinohara Shinji, and Yoko Oba. Notably, the book was published a few months before Pokémon's roll-out in North-America and the rest of Asia.

Table of contents[edit]

Chapter	Pages
Cover (w obi strip, w/o sleeve), back (w obi strip, w/o sleeve)
0_2
	1
Introduction	2 – 6
Table of contents	7 – 9
	10
Chapter 1: The birth of a once-in-a-decade character	11 – 28
Chapter 2: Individual sensitivity that transcends organizational agendas	29 – 70
Chapter 3: Creating a worldview that is not closed	71 – 110
Chapter 4: No compromise on strategic products	111 – 144
Chapter 5: The anime that started with a "no"	145 – 186
Chapter 6: Cramming in fads is a recipe for failure	187 – 236
Chapter 7: Sharing interest is always the starting point	237 – 265
Commentary	266 – 269
About the authors	270
Publishing information	271 – 272

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Releases[edit]

The book featured on this site is this one:

Google Books, amazon.com, amazon.co.jp (ISBN: 978-4094162110)

It was released on 1 June 1998 by Shogakukan, which also produces the anime.

Curiously, there appears to be another book with the same title, released a few months earlier:

Google Books, amazon.com, amazon.co.jp (ISBN: 978-4870840379)

As of 11 November 2023, this book is $283.93 on amazon.com, for whatever reason (in the past, it actually was $315 for a while, if not more). I'm not going to pay that much for a single book, especially when it turns out to be the same as the other one. If someone has this book and can clarify this issue, please leave me a note.

Download[edit]

For a ZIP file containing all scans, go here (378 MB).
Here is a mirror of the ZIP file at MEGA.

I can create a PDF document of the book if all pages have been proofread.
Similarly, I can create a PDF document of the book if all pages have been translated.

You can help!