“The China Syndrome” (チャイナ・シンドローム), Original Japanese First-Release Movie Poster 1979, B2 Size (51 × 73 cm) ZA909

This is an original Japanese B2 poster produced for the 1979 first Japanese theatrical release of The China Syndrome, directed by James Bridges and starring Jane Fonda, Jack Lemmon, and Michael Douglas. Distributed in Japan by Columbia Pictures, this striking design captures the tension and urgency of one of the defining political thrillers of the late 1970s.

Film background
A television reporter and her cameraman witness a potentially catastrophic incident while visiting a nuclear power station. When their footage is suppressed, a veteran engineer’s discovery of dangerous equipment faults draws them into a confrontation with corporate interests determined to silence the story.

Combining investigative journalism with an increasingly desperate struggle of conscience, the film builds its suspense around the people responsible for exposing—or concealing—a public danger. Douglas also produced the film, while Fonda and Lemmon provide its central emotional conflict.

Poster design
An intense orange, yellow, and black photographic montage dominates the composition. Jane Fonda appears centrally in a white “VISITOR” hard hat, flanked by a sombre Jack Lemmon and Michael Douglas looking through his camera. A fiery, globe-like orange ring encloses the three portraits, suggesting the wider consequences of the unfolding crisis.

Across the top, industrial imagery and a figure wearing a protective respirator introduce contrasting blues, pale yellows, and greens. The Japanese tagline translates approximately as “The China Syndrome—better that no one ever learns what it means.”

Oversized orange Japanese lettering anchors the lower section, complemented by a small English title incorporated into a yellow pulse-like line. The vivid colour treatment gives this Japanese campaign considerable graphic impact.

Condition
Excellent. 

Please review the photographs—they show the exact poster for sale.

It is over 47 years old!
It is not a reproduction or a reprint.
Certificate of Authenticity included.