“1941” (1941／いちきゅうよんいち), Rare Original Japanese First-Release Double-Sided Theatrical Promotional Poster 1980, B2 Size (c. 51.5 × 72.8 cm) S250
This is an original Japanese B2 double-sided theatrical promotional poster produced for the first Japanese release of Steven Spielberg’s 1941. The film opened in Japan on 8 March 1980, following its American release in December 1979.
Directed by Steven Spielberg, with a screenplay by Robert Zemeckis and Bob Gale from a story by Zemeckis, Gale and John Milius, 1941 is Spielberg’s extraordinary large-scale wartime comedy set amid the hysteria that followed the attack on Pearl Harbor.
Its remarkable ensemble includes John Belushi, Dan Aykroyd, Ned Beatty, Lorraine Gary, Murray Hamilton, Christopher Lee, Tim Matheson, Toshiro Mifune, Warren Oates, Robert Stack, Treat Williams, Nancy Allen, John Candy and Slim Pickens, with music by John Williams.
What makes this example especially interesting is its unusual double-sided construction. One face functions as an exceptionally graphic Japanese theatrical poster, while the reverse is fully printed as an elaborate press-sheet-style promotional presentation, filled with cast information, production notes, photographs and character material.
Film background
Set in Southern California in December 1941, shortly after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the film transforms wartime panic into an enormous comic spectacle.
Rumours of an imminent Japanese attack send Los Angeles into chaos while American servicemen, civilians, pilots and anti-aircraft crews become increasingly incapable of distinguishing genuine danger from their own hysteria.
Meanwhile, a Japanese submarine commanded by Toshiro Mifune, with Christopher Lee aboard as a German officer, approaches the Californian coast in search of Hollywood.
The result is among the most extravagant films Spielberg ever made: a collision of war movie, screwball comedy, slapstick, action spectacle and Hollywood self-parody.
Its extraordinary technical scale is equally important. Full-size sets, aircraft sequences, miniatures, explosions, elaborate stunt work and large crowds turn the film into a deliberately excessive piece of filmmaking—one whose reputation has grown considerably since its original release.
Front design
The principal side of this poster is radically different from conventional photographic movie advertising.
Against a nearly uninterrupted black field, the title:
1941
is rendered as four enormous metallic-grey numerals, stretched diagonally across almost the entire B2 sheet.
The scale is tremendous. Rather than presenting the movie through actors or action scenes, the designer transforms the title itself into the visual spectacle.
The huge numerals feel almost monumental—somewhere between industrial signage, wartime typography and modern graphic design.
Around the centre of the “9” appears a small comic caricature wearing a red 1941 cap beside a periscope-like device, introducing a deliberately absurd visual detail into an otherwise severe minimalist composition.
The contrast is entirely appropriate to the film: massive military-scale spectacle punctured by ridiculous human comedy.
Above the production credits appears the red Japanese campaign line:
「これは、笑いのカーニバルだ、驚きのドミノ・パニックだ。」
Approximately:
“This is a carnival of laughter — an astonishing domino panic.”
The relatively tiny turquoise production credits beneath the line contrast sharply with the huge grey numerals, further emphasising the extraordinary scale of the title treatment.
The double-sided reverse
The reverse is almost as compelling as the main poster.
Rather than remaining blank, the entire surface is transformed into a colourful Steven Spielberg / 1941 promotional dossier.
Across one edge appears the large scripted name:
Steven Spielberg
together with the enormous numerals:
1941
The remaining field is divided into brightly coloured horizontal sections—yellow, violet, pink, green, black, orange and blue—filled with Japanese text, cast profiles, production information and film stills.
The sheet introduces members of the film’s enormous ensemble individually, combining portrait photographs with commentary and character information.
A central black section carries a dense body of Japanese editorial copy about the production, while smaller stills reproduce some of the film’s enormous set pieces and comic situations.
At the bottom, the caricature motif from the principal side returns, visually linking the two faces of the sheet.
This extensive reverse printing gives the poster the character of both a display piece and a theatrical publicity document.
It is a particularly appealing survival because it preserves not merely the film’s key visual campaign but also the way Japanese audiences and exhibitors were introduced to Spielberg’s enormous ensemble production.
Spielberg between Jaws and Raiders
1941 occupies a fascinating position in Steven Spielberg’s early career.
It followed the phenomenal successes of Jaws and Close Encounters of the Third Kind and immediately preceded Raiders of the Lost Ark and E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial.
Rather than repeating the controlled suspense of Jaws or the lyrical science fiction of Close Encounters, Spielberg deliberately pursued scale, speed and comic excess.
The film became notorious for its enormous production, yet that very extravagance is now one of its principal attractions.
Its cast and creative personnel also provide a remarkable snapshot of late-1970s American filmmaking: John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd emerging from Saturday Night Live, Zemeckis and Gale shortly before Back to the Future, John Williams providing the score, and Spielberg testing the limits of large-scale studio spectacle.
Japanese significance
The presence of Toshiro Mifune gave the film a particularly strong point of recognition for Japanese audiences.
Mifune plays the Japanese submarine commander with his characteristic authority, while the film deliberately contrasts his comparatively disciplined officer with the escalating absurdity on the American side.
The Japanese campaign consequently had an unusual amount to work with: Spielberg’s international reputation, a huge American ensemble, spectacular effects and one of Japan’s most internationally celebrated actors.
This double-sided poster reflects that abundance.
One side reduces the film to the stark numerical identity 1941; the other explodes outward into colour, photographs, biographies and production information.
The B2 format
Measuring approximately 51.5 × 72.8 cm, the Japanese B2 was the principal theatrical poster format used by Japanese cinemas.
Double-sided B2 promotional pieces of this type are considerably less commonly encountered than ordinary single-sided theatrical sheets, particularly when the reverse contains such extensive original campaign material.
The black principal side is also particularly unforgiving of damage: scratches, creases and abrasions readily expose the pale paper beneath the dark printing.
A strongly preserved example therefore has considerable visual advantage.
Condition
Excellent condition overall.
The principal side retains a deep, even black field, with the enormous metallic-grey 1941 numerals remaining clean and sharply defined. The red, turquoise and yellow typography remains strong, while the small central illustration retains excellent colour and detail.
The extensively printed reverse is also very well preserved, with bright, saturated colour across the multiple graphic panels, clear photographs and crisp Japanese typography.
There are only light age-related handling marks, minor surface impressions and subtle edge or corner wear visible on close inspection. There are no major defects compromising either side of the design.
Please review all photographs carefully; they show the exact double-sided poster for sale.
This is an original Japanese B2 double-sided theatrical promotional poster from the film’s first Japanese release campaign in 1980.
It is not a reproduction or modern reprint.
It is approximately 46 years old.
Certificate of Authenticity included.
