“Kanto Street Peddler Clan: Fighting Fire Festival”, Original Japanese Release Circular Movie Poster 1971, Diameter 50 cm P226

This is an original Japanese circular-format poster printed in 1971 for the first theatrical release of 関東テキヤ一家 喧嘩火祭り, directed by Norifumi Suzuki and released by Toei on 13 February 1971. The film is the fourth entry in the Kantō Tekiya Ikka series and stars Bunta Sugawara, with Tatsuo Umemiya in a key supporting role. Surviving examples of this unusual round format are exceptionally scarce, and this design is especially striking for its bold, hand-painted presentation of Sugawara as a tattooed tekiya hero.

Film background
Released in 1971, Kenka Himatsuri is a colourful Toei action drama set against the backdrop of two major festivals, with Japanese film reference sources specifically noting Gifu’s Hadaka Matsuri and the Chichibu Night Festival as the dramatic settings for the story. Like the best entries in the series, it blends festival spectacle, itinerant trader culture, gang conflict, and masculine codes of loyalty, with Sugawara’s screen presence giving the film its force. Directed and co-written by Norifumi Suzuki, the picture belongs to the rich early-1970s Toei world that helped define Japanese popular action cinema of the era.

Poster design
A superb and highly unusual exhibition format, this poster departs completely from the standard B2 or STB layout. Printed as a perfect circle measuring 50 cm in diameter, it has tremendous decorative presence and feels closer to a theatre display sign than a conventional one-sheet. The artwork is magnificent: Bunta Sugawara is rendered in a beautifully painted crouching pose, his body wrapped in richly detailed tattoo imagery, while the red brushstroke title crashes down the right side with enormous impact. The soft architectural background and the contrast between the pale ground and the saturated tattoo colours give the sheet a painterly elegance rarely seen in more standard commercial poster formats. It is an exceptionally displayable piece, and the circular shape makes it especially memorable. The film itself was shot in colour and Cinemascope, which fits the poster’s bold, theatrical presentation.

Condition
Very Good / Excellent. Please review the photos—they show the exact poster for sale. 

It is over 54 years old!
It is not a reproduction or a reprint.
Certificate of Authenticity included.