Identifying Japanese Beatles Albums

Japan holds the distinction of releasing more Beatles records than any other nation. At one time, they had the entire British catalog in print, along with most of the American album catalog and a few albums unique to Japan. Also, all of Odeon's releases through 1970 were available on regular black vinyl and on higher quality (low noise) red vinyl, creating even more variations. There are finer distinctions to be made (such as what the original price of each record was), but the information that I provide should be sufficient for most collectors that want to start collecting Japanese releases, which most people consider to be on higher quality vinyl than most releases worldwide.

One good thing to start out with at this point is that all of the issues, including reissues, were numbered sequentially. So record 7123 came out before record 8026, for example.

What's an "OBI"?


"Obi" is the word for "sash." When talking about records, the obi is a paper sash that wraps around the cover, containing bits of information about the record. Because the obis were normally discarded, an original obi is often worth more than the record it wrapped around.

NOTE: All values shown are for RED VINYL copies until 1971.

First Style Odeon


The first style Odeon label (until the end of 1965) does not mention EMI and has the words "LONG PLAYING" at the bottom of the label. The following albums were originally released on the first style Odeon label.

Number Title Value Other Information
OR 7041 Meet the Beatles (Japan) $250 mono
OR 7058 Beatles Second Album (Japan) $300 mono
OP 7123 Hard Day's Night $175 diff. cover OBI=2000
OP 7179 Beatles For Sale $175 gatefold
OR 7103 Beatles No. 5 $175 mono
OP 7387 Help! $175 gatefold OBI=200

NOTE: The albums Meet the Beatles and Beatles Second Album have (Japan) after them because although their covers and titles resemble US releases, the songs on those albums are different from any releases outside Japan.

Second Style Odeon


This label style looks like the earlier style, but the words "LONG PLAYING" have been removed.

Number Title Value Other Information
OR/OP 7*** reissue of earlier LP $150 1966
OP 7450 Rubber Soul $2001966
OP 7548 Please Please Me $175stereo; coincided w/Japan trip diff cvr
OP 7549 With the Beatles $200 stereo; Japan trip, no OBI diff cvr
OP 7553/4Beatles Story$200
OP 7600 Revolver $150
OP 8016 Collection of Beatles Oldies $150 OBI=200
OR 8026 Meet the Beatles (Japan) $200mono
OR 8027 Beatles Second Album (Japan) $250 mono
OR 8028 Beatles No. 5$250 mono
OP 8147 Hard Day's Night $150
OP 8151 Help! $150
OP 8156 Rubber Soul $150 OBI=200
OP 8163 Sgt. Pepper's LHCB $150
OP 8442 Beatles For Sale $150
OP 8443 Revolver $150

As a general rule, prices for black vinyl are about half of those for red vinyl.

When the catalog switched to Apple, Japan also began pressing Apple label reissues of the earlier albums, in both red and black vinyl, using the same catalog numbers (8000's).

Apple Label Issues


Blah blah blah.

Number Title Value Other Information
AP 8570/1The Beatles$200red vinyl; numbered; w/Apple OBI; w/inserts
AP 8610Yellow Submarine $100
AP 8675Please Please Me$100red OBI, diff cvr
AP 8676/7Beatles Story $250boxed
AP 8678With the Beatles$175diff cover; stereo, red OBI; gatefold
AP 8815Abbey Road$100OBI=250
A couple of Polydor releases:
Polydor 1189Beatles First$250
Polydor MP 1476 The Young Beatlesstereo1969
AP 8940Hey Jude$75OBI=50
AP 9009Let It Be $300boxed edition w/book
AP 9009Let It Be $75gatefold cover
Odeon OP 9728Magical Mystery Tour$1501970
Apple AP 9728Magical Mystery Tour $100OBI=300, 1970?

Post-Beatles Issues

Making a break from my normal method of inclusion, I have decided to include certain reissues. The reason for their inclusion is that most Americans collecting Japanese Beatles issues do not realize what issue they have or when that issue was released. Just as in all the other countries, the later reissues are more common and less valuable than original copies. Generally, anything with an EAS or EAR prefix is later. Anything with that prefix on the Odeon label dates to the post-Apple period.

Number Title Value Other Information
Credits at bottom of label of first issues.
EMI not mentioned.
Apple AP 80011 Meet the Beatles (US)$501970
Apple AP 80012 Second Album (US) $40 1970
Apple AP 80033 Something New $401970
Apple AP 80034 Early Beatles $40
Apple AP 80035 Beatles VI $40
Apple AP 80060 Help! (US) $40 OBI=20
Apple AP 80061 Yesterday and Today $75 UK song mixes, 1970
Apple AP 80189 Let It Be $100 gatefold cover, 1971
All of the releases below are on black vinyl only.
Apple EAS-80550 Please Please Me$30stereo, 1973
Apple EAS-80551 With the Beatles$30stereo
Apple EAS 80552 Hard Day's Night$30
Apple EAS 80553 Beatles For Sale$30
Apple EAS 80554 Help!$30
Apple EAS 80555 Rubber Soul$30
Apple EAS 80556 Revolver$30
Apple EAS 80557 Collection of Beatles Oldies$30
Apple EAS 80558 Sgt. Pepper's LHCB$30
Apple EAS 77001/2The Beatles$50
Apple EAS-77007/8Beatles Story$75boxed
Apple EAS-80559 Yellow Submarine$30
Apple EAS-80560 Abbey Road$30
Apple EAS-80561 Let It Be$30
Apple EAS-50021/21962-1966$40
Apple EAS-50023/41967-1970$40
Apple EAS-80562Meet the Beatles (US)$30
Apple EAS-80563Second Album (US)$30
Apple EAS-80564Something New$30
Apple EAS-80565Early Beatles$30
Apple EAS-80566Beatles VI$30
Apple EAS-80567 Help! (US) $30
Apple EAS-80568 Yesterday and Today$30
Apple EAS-80569Magical Mystery Tour$30
Apple EAS-80570Hey Jude$30

Also of Note

A mono reissue series (Odeon EAR-701**), in red vinyl, came out in 1982. These are collected along with the other Japanese releases, but even though they are mono, their catalog numbers indicate that they are NOT the original releases.

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