“Good Morning” (お早よう, Ohayō), Original Release Japanese Movie Poster 1959, B2 Size (51 × 73 cm) P271 (G)

This is an original Japanese B2 movie poster printed in 1959 for the first Japanese release of Yasujirō Ozu’s Good Morning (お早よう), released by Shochiku. A scarce country-of-origin first-release poster for one of Ozu’s most beloved late films, this example has survived in remarkably strong, highly displayable condition, with fresh colour and an excellent overall appearance that is increasingly difficult to find for Japanese posters of this period.

Film background
Released in 1959, Good Morning is one of Ozu’s warmest and most accessible masterpieces—an exquisitely observed portrait of suburban post-war Japan as television, consumer desire, neighbourhood etiquette, and generational change begin to reshape everyday life. Light on the surface but formally exact beneath it, the film blends gentle comedy with Ozu’s characteristic emotional precision. It is also widely understood as a sound-and-colour reworking of themes first explored in his earlier silent classic I Was Born, But..., making it an especially important title within his career.

Poster design
A beautiful, full-colour Shochiku design built around a poised domestic interior image: a young man and woman seated on tatami, rendered in soft mid-century tones of beige, green, brown, and blue, and dramatically anchored by the sweeping vertical red title 「お早よう」. The upper-right text highlights the film’s colour billing as 総天然色 / アグファ松竹カラー (“Full natural colour / Agfa Shochiku Color”), while the lower section presents Ozu prominently in blue as both screenwriter and director. The overall design is elegant, modern, and unmistakably Shochiku—capturing the quiet refinement that defines Ozu’s late-period cinema.

Condition
Very Good / Excellent, particularly for an original Japanese poster of this era. Folded and subsequently stored flat. Light age-consistent handling and soft creasing visible mainly at the fold intersections and in the margins. The front retains strong colour, very attractive paper quality, and excellent display presence overall, which is quite remarkable considering the poster’s age.
Verso shows expected age toning, fold wear, and pronounced show-through / offset from the printed front, all typical of original-release Japanese sheets printed on thin paper stock. Overall, a very well-preserved and highly presentable example of an exceptionally scarce original Ozu B2.

It is over 66 years old!
It is not a reproduction or a reprint.
Certificate of Authenticity included.