This is an original Japanese B2 movie poster printed in 1961 for the first Japanese release of Yasujirō Ozu’s The End of Summer (小早川家の秋). This is the Head Office (standard national) style B2—i.e., the primary studio-issued design intended for broad theatrical circulation—rather than a Chihō-ban regional variant. The sheet retains key period presentation details including the circular 東宝 emblem at the upper right and the lower imprint “Printed in Japan © TOHO CO., Ltd. 1961”, consistent with an original-era theatrical poster.
Film background
Released in 1961, The End of Summer is Ozu’s penultimate feature and one of his most quietly resonant late-period colour works. By turns wry and melancholic, it revisits Ozu’s enduring themes—family obligation, post-war social change, and the subtle negotiations around marriage and independence—delivered with his trademark compositional discipline and humane restraint. The film features a distinguished ensemble including Ganjirō Nakamura, Setsuko Hara, Yōko Tsukasa, and Mariko Okada.
Poster design
A refined, full-colour Toho head-office design, framed by an elegant musical-stave border around the margins. The composition is anchored by a poised interior tableau of the principal women at the top, balanced by the dramatic, vertically arranged magenta brush-calligraphy title 「小早川家の秋」 down the right side. Below, a secondary vignette (standing figure with a seated young woman in pink) adds narrative emphasis, while a row of character portraits grounds the lower margin. The prominent colour credit 「総天然色」 and crisp studio typography complete a beautifully designed early-1960s Japanese theatrical sheet.
Condition
Very Good / Excellent (display-strong), unbacked.
-
Light, age-consistent fold wear; additional soft creasing is visible in places, typical of cinema-used paper from this period.
-
Minor edge and corner wear commensurate with theatrical handling, with light rubbing to extremities; the overall image remains clean and highly displayable.
-
A few scattered crease breaks/handling impressions visible in close-up, but no major paper loss is apparent in the provided images.
-
Colour remains strong and the poster presents extremely well once framed.
-
Verso shows expected age-toning and fold wear, faint transfer/ghosting from the printed front, and period pencil/grease-pencil annotations consistent with cinema handling and storage.
It is over 64 years old!
It is not a reproduction or a reprint.
Certificate of Authenticity included.
