“Lost Sex” (本能), Original Japanese B2 First-Release Poster with Title Calligraphy by Taro Okamoto (岡本太郎) — 1966 First Japanese Release (27 August 1966) — approx. 20.3 × 28.7 in (51.5 × 72.8 cm) P200

This is an original Japanese B2 poster printed in 1966 for the first Japanese theatrical release of 本能 (released internationally as Lost Sex). Produced in the large B2 format specifically for the film’s initial run, it was issued for a picture made by Kindai Eiga Kyokai and distributed by Shochiku, opening in Japan on 27 August 1966. Most importantly for collectors, the National Film Archive of Japan credits the film’s 題字 (title lettering) to 岡本太郎 (Taro Okamoto)—and this poster still bears the striking, signed “TARO” brushwork that gives the sheet such unusual crossover appeal between cinema and postwar Japanese avant-garde art.

About the film
Directed by Kaneto Shindō.
Starring Hideo Kanze, Nobuko Otowa, Eijirō Tōno, Kaori Shima, Taiji Tonoyama, Jūkichi Uno.
Shochiku’s official synopsis places the story in the seasonal landscape of the Tateshina Highlands, where a man known only as “the Master” confronts sexual impotence linked to the legacy of Hiroshima and, later, the Bikini / Fifth Lucky Dragon nuclear trauma, while a widowed housekeeper tries to restore his humanity and desire. English-language databases list the film as Lost Sex, and the BFI notes that it belongs to Shindō’s lesser-seen mid-1960s erotic period—a phase that followed the success of The Naked Island and Onibaba but was often retitled and neglected overseas.

Poster design
A superb and highly unusual Japanese first-release design. The sheet is dominated by the huge crimson brush title 本能, executed in unmistakably explosive Taro Okamoto style and signed “TARO” at left. Against a pale, almost empty ground, the central black photographic form frames a dark, erotically charged image of the male lead looming over a reclining woman, while two silhouetted figures at either side and loose pastel accent shapes give the whole composition an experimental, modernist feel. The surrounding copy—asking whether “this man’s” function will return, and proclaiming a “new cinema eroticism”—makes the poster feel every bit as provocative and of-the-moment as the film itself. Official film records specifically credit Okamoto for the title lettering, which is exactly the right way to describe his contribution here.

Condition
Excellent. Please review the photos—they show the exact poster for sale.

It is nearly 60 years old!
It is not a reproduction or a reprint.
Certificate of Authenticity included.