“Kaza-hana” (風花), Original Release Japanese Movie Poster 2001 (film 2000), Shinji Somai / Kyoko Koizumi / Tadanobu Asano, B2 Size (51 × 73 cm) S146

This is an original Japanese B2 theatrical poster produced for the first Japanese cinema release of Shinji Somai’s Kaza-hana (風花), starring Kyoko Koizumi (小泉今日子) and Tadanobu Asano (浅野忠信). The film was produced in 2000 and opened theatrically in Japan on 27 January 2001, distributed by Cinecanon (シネカノン). It was the 13th and final feature film directed by Shinji Somai, who died later that year, giving the film particular significance within the career of one of modern Japanese cinema’s most distinctive filmmakers.

The film follows Yuriko, a woman travelling north to Hokkaido in the hope of seeing the daughter she left behind, and Renji, an elite government bureaucrat whose alcoholism and personal collapse have left his own life unmoored. After an unlikely encounter, the two set off together on a road journey through Japan. Very different in temperament and circumstance, they gradually form a fragile connection as both confront lives from which they have become increasingly detached.

Poster design
A superbly restrained and atmospheric Japanese first-release design dominated by an enormous soft red monochrome portrait of Kyoko Koizumi, shown in profile with a distant, contemplative expression. The image has an intentionally hazy, almost overexposed quality, giving the sheet a sense of memory, loneliness and emotional suspension that perfectly suits Somai’s final film.

The lower portion opens into a broad off-white field, with very little commercial clutter. The title 風花 is rendered in expressive black brush calligraphy at lower left, balanced by the much smaller katakana カザハナ on the opposite side. The minimalism gives the poster an unusually sophisticated, almost gallery-like presence.

Above the title appears the film’s official Japanese catchphrase:

「帰る場所のない、女と男と」

— approximately, “A woman and a man with nowhere to return to.”

The small production credits within the red image prominently identify 小泉今日子 × 浅野忠信 and 相米慎二監督作品, making the poster a particularly elegant document of the collaboration between Somai, Koizumi and Asano.

As the original poster for Shinji Somai’s final completed feature, this is an especially meaningful piece for collectors of Japanese auteur cinema.

It is over 25 years old!

Condition
Excellent. The poster retains its delicate original red and cream tonal balance beautifully, with the minimalist typography and photographic image remaining exceptionally attractive. There are only very minor signs of age and handling, with no significant condition issues affecting the central artwork or typography. Please review the photograph carefully—it shows the exact poster for sale.

It is not a reproduction or a reprint.

Certificate of Authenticity included.