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“Metropolis” (メトロポリス), Ultra‑rare Original Japanese pre‑war chirashi / folded poster for the first nationwide Japanese release, 8 May 1929 — Size: c. 27.5 × 39 cm
“Metropolis” (メトロポリス), Ultra‑rare Original Japanese pre‑war chirashi / folded poster for the first nationwide Japanese release, 8 May 1929 — Size: c. 27.5 × 39 cm
“Metropolis” (メトロポリス), Ultra‑rare Original Japanese pre‑war chirashi / folded poster for the first nationwide Japanese release, 8 May 1929 — Size: c. 27.5 × 39 cm
“Metropolis” (メトロポリス), Ultra‑rare Original Japanese pre‑war chirashi / folded poster for the first nationwide Japanese release, 8 May 1929 — Size: c. 27.5 × 39 cm
“Metropolis” (メトロポリス), Ultra‑rare Original Japanese pre‑war chirashi / folded poster for the first nationwide Japanese release, 8 May 1929 — Size: c. 27.5 × 39 cm
“Metropolis” (メトロポリス), Ultra‑rare Original Japanese pre‑war chirashi / folded poster for the first nationwide Japanese release, 8 May 1929 — Size: c. 27.5 × 39 cm
“Metropolis” (メトロポリス), Ultra‑rare Original Japanese pre‑war chirashi / folded poster for the first nationwide Japanese release, 8 May 1929 — Size: c. 27.5 × 39 cm
“Metropolis” (メトロポリス), Ultra‑rare Original Japanese pre‑war chirashi / folded poster for the first nationwide Japanese release, 8 May 1929 — Size: c. 27.5 × 39 cm
“Metropolis” (メトロポリス), Ultra‑rare Original Japanese pre‑war chirashi / folded poster for the first nationwide Japanese release, 8 May 1929 — Size: c. 27.5 × 39 cm
“Metropolis” (メトロポリス), Ultra‑rare Original Japanese pre‑war chirashi / folded poster for the first nationwide Japanese release, 8 May 1929 — Size: c. 27.5 × 39 cm
“Metropolis” (メトロポリス), Ultra‑rare Original Japanese pre‑war chirashi / folded poster for the first nationwide Japanese release, 8 May 1929 — Size: c. 27.5 × 39 cm

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“Metropolis” (メトロポリス), Ultra‑rare Original Japanese pre‑war chirashi / folded poster for the first nationwide Japanese release, 8 May 1929 — Size: c. 27.5 × 39 cm

Sale price $685.00

Ultra‑rare (c. 96 years old) Original Japanese pre‑war double‑sided poster‑chirashi for the 1929 Japanese release of Fritz Lang’s Metropolis.
Size: c. 27.5 × 39 cm (approx. 10.8 × 15.4 in, B4‑type) • Issued for the Kurume Asahi‑za (久留米・旭座) engagement and nationwide roadshow release in Japan

Why this matters

Lang’s 1927 Metropolis is a foundational work of science fiction cinema—robot Maria, the stratified future city, and its towering expressionist sets define the visual language of sci‑fi for the next century. Japanese pre‑war paper for this title is almost never seen; most was pasted up outside cinemas or folded into ephemeral handbills and lost.

This sheet is not only an early Japanese witness to one of cinema’s key works, it is also a spectacular example of inter‑war graphic design: German UFA futurism filtered through Japanese pre‑war typography and printed in a bold green. Survival in this size and condition, nearly a century on, is extraordinary.

About this piece

  • Format: Japanese double‑page 広告ビラ / 折込みパンフ (folded chirashi‑poster), printed for the 8 May 1929 opening at Kurume’s Asahi‑za, tied to the nationwide release.
    Note: the verso (red‑printed back) carries contemporary layouts for the companion programme—Nikkatsu’s 朝日は輝く, 肉体と悪魔 (Flesh and the Devil, Greta Garbo) and 雲井龍雄—while the recto/front is the full two‑page Metropolis design.

Design & iconography

The recto is a tour‑de‑force of pre‑war Japanese modernism.

A full‑length figure of the robot Maria stands on the left, drawn in grainy halftone, her anatomy segmented into plates and hinges. Around her cluster instruments of the machine age: a curved gauge dial in the upper corner, a numbered spring‑coil scale, circular housings and pistons. Vertical copy beside her shouts 「人造人間の出現／人類界の驚異!!」—“The appearance of an artificial human / a marvel for humankind!!”—announcing the robot as both scientific wonder and spectacle.

Across the centre explodes the film’s title in katakana: メトロポリス. Each character is reduced to radical geometry—slabbed crosses, circles, and squares—and stacked as massive blocks that read right‑to‑left in keeping with pre‑war Japanese convention. The dots of 「ポ」 and 「メ」 become solid discs; 「ロ」 is rendered as a perfect square window; 「ス」 is abstracted into a stepped, almost architectural form. The result is typography as machine: the word Metropolis itself becomes a tower of metal, gears, and apertures.

On the right side, concentric cogwheels and pulleys lock together, echoing the film’s great machines. Above them, crisp vertical credits declare this as a German UFA special: 「フリッツ・ラング氏監督作品」, with co‑stars ブリギッテ・ヘルム, ルドルフ・クライン＝ロッゲ, アルフレッド・アーベル listed in neat pre‑war katakana. A bold, outlined headline column—「百年後の世界」, “The world one hundred years from now”—anchors the layout.

All text on the horizontal bands is set right‑to‑left, a beautiful period detail: along the very top a racing strip of copy announces the May opening and roadshow engagement; along the bottom a dotted line echoes the punch of film sprockets. The limited palette—deep machine‑green over warm magenta wash on aged newsprint stock—gives the piece a powerful, almost screen‑printed presence.

Translations of the main captions

  • Top banner (horizontal, right‑to‑left):
    「五月八日ヨリ封切！全国縦断公開！」
    — “Opens from May 8! Nationwide roadshow release!”

  • Main vertical headline (center):
    「百年後の世界」
    — “The world one hundred years from now.”

  • Credits column (right side):
    「獨逸ウーファ社特作／フリッツ・ラング氏監督作品／主演 ブリギッテ・ヘルム嬢／共演 ルドルフ・クライン＝ロッゲ氏、アルフレッド・アーベル氏」
    — “A special production of German UFA; directed by Fritz Lang; starring Brigitte Helm; co‑starring Rudolf Klein‑Rogge and Alfred Abel.”

  • Robot Maria copy (left of figure):
    「人造人間の出現／人類界の驚異!!」
    — “The appearance of an artificial human / a marvel for humankind!!”

(Pre‑war right‑to‑left layout and kana spellings are preserved exactly on the piece.)

Rarity & significance

  • Pre‑war survival: fragile 1920s theatre paper that was meant to be discarded—almost never encountered today.

  • Key title: Early Japanese paper for Metropolis, one of the defining works of science fiction and film modernism.

  • Graphic importance: A remarkable fusion of Weimar‑era futurist imagery with Japanese right‑to‑left katakana typography; the title word itself engineered into an abstract machine.

  • Display impact: Robot Maria’s full‑figure portrait, the monumental メトロポリス logotype, and the huge gear motif make for exceptional wall presence.

  • Desirable format: Larger B4‑type double‑page chirashi/poster rather than the tiny single‑page handbill more commonly seen when any pre‑war paper surfaces at all.

Condition

Very good for the type and age, approaching a century old. Paper shows even, honest toning with scattered small spots and handling creases. Original central vertical fold is present with light wear along the fold line. Edges show minor nicks and small corner chips, but no major loss intruding into the printed design. There is a repair to a tear on the verso using tape (visible on the red‑printed programme side), stabilising the sheet; this repair does not significantly affect the Metropolis artwork on the recto. Inks remain strong, with the green machinery still vivid and the robot image clear. Please review the photos—this is the exact piece offered.

Details

  • Country: Japan

  • Year of issue: 1929 (first nationwide Japanese release; Kurume Asahi‑za engagement from 8 May 1929)

  • Size: c. 27.5 × 39 cm (approx. 10.8 × 15.4 in, B4‑type)

  • Printing: Original 1929 Japanese double‑sided theatre printing; not a reproduction

  • Verso: Red‑printed programme side featuring 朝日は輝く (Nikkatsu), 肉体と悪魔 (Flesh and the Devil, dir. Clarence Brown, starring Greta Garbo), and 雲井龍雄 (Nikkatsu) designs; includes old tape repair to a past tear

  • Authentication: COA included

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