"Lone Wolf and Cub: Sword of Vengeance" (子連れ狼 子を貸し腕貸しつかまつる), Original First Japanese Release Speed Poster 1972, Printed 1971, Rare Slim Format (26 × 73 cm) R7
This is an original Japanese speed poster printed in 1971 for the first theatrical release of Lone Wolf and Cub: Sword of Vengeance (子連れ狼 子を貸し腕貸しつかまつる), which opened in Japan on 15 January 1972.
Directed by Kenji Misumi and starring Tomisaburo Wakayama, this was the first film in the celebrated Lone Wolf and Cub series. Produced by Katsu Productions and distributed by Toho, it introduced one of the most influential father-and-son pairings in Japanese popular cinema: the disgraced executioner Ogami Ittō and his young son Daigoro.
This rare narrow-format poster measures approximately 26 × 73 cm, retaining the height of a standard Japanese B2 while using roughly half its width.
The speed-poster format
Japanese speed posters are distinctive slim-format theatrical advertisements, normally measuring approximately 25.5–26 cm across and 72.8–73 cm high. Their elongated proportions allowed bold film advertising to be displayed within narrow or otherwise restricted promotional spaces.
The format should not be confused with an STB or tatekan poster, which is a much taller design traditionally formed from two vertically joined B2 sheets. A speed poster is instead approximately half the width of a single B2 poster.
Produced for short-term promotional use, speed posters were frequently folded, pinned, taped or discarded once a film’s engagement ended. Surviving first-release examples—particularly for major cult titles—are consequently much less frequently encountered than conventional B2 theatrical posters.
Film background
Based on the landmark manga written by Kazuo Koike and illustrated by Goseki Kojima, Sword of Vengeance follows Ogami Ittō, formerly the Shogun’s official executioner. After being framed by the rival Yagyū clan and witnessing the murder of his wife and household, Ittō rejects submission and enters the assassin’s path known as Meifumadō—the road to hell.
Accompanied by his infant son Daigoro, Ittō travels through feudal Japan as the hired warrior known as Lone Wolf and Cub. The film combines formal samurai drama with sudden, highly stylized violence, establishing the visual and thematic vocabulary that would define the subsequent series.
Tomisaburo Wakayama’s performance is central to the film’s enduring reputation. A highly accomplished martial artist, he gives Ittō an imposing physicality while maintaining the character’s disciplined stillness and emotional restraint. Daigoro is played by Akihiro Tomikawa.
The film launched a six-picture series and helped redefine modern chanbara cinema. The first two instalments were subsequently re-edited and dubbed for the international feature Shogun Assassin in 1980, bringing the imagery and mythology of Lone Wolf and Cub to an even wider cult audience.
Poster design
The design is an exceptional example of early-1970s Japanese graphic minimalism. Most of the poster is occupied by a saturated blue field, against which the immense yellow title 子連れ狼—Kozure Ōkami or Lone Wolf and Cub—is arranged vertically in forceful brush-style characters.
The rough, irregular calligraphy appears almost carved or slashed into the blue ground. Its saturated yellow colour produces a remarkably modern contrast, ensuring that the title could be read immediately despite the poster’s unusually narrow proportions.
Running vertically along the left is the film’s subtitle:
子を貸し 腕貸し つかまつる
This may be understood approximately as “We offer our child and our sword arm for hire,” encapsulating the grim professional code of the wandering assassin.
The upper field also incorporates forceful publicity copy describing the protagonist as a masterless warrior and celebrated executioner, pursued by the Yagyū clan and wielding his deadly blades. The Toho emblem appears prominently at the upper right, while the names of leading actor Tomisaburo Wakayama, director Kenji Misumi and original creators Kazuo Koike and Goseki Kojima are integrated into the typography.
The lower section abruptly changes visual language. A stark monochrome image shows Wakayama as Ogami Ittō drawing his sword with Daigoro secured against his back. Diagonal brush-like speed marks cut across the pale background, lending the still photograph the kinetic force of a manga action panel.
This contrast—bold colour and monumental calligraphy above, urgent black-and-white action below—creates a design that is both unmistakably cinematic and closely connected to the graphic energy of Koike and Kojima’s original manga.
The lower-right margin retains the period Eirin classification number 71561, together with the printed line “Printed in Japan © TOHO CO., LTD. 1971.” This confirms that the poster was prepared in advance of the film’s January 1972 opening.
Condition
This poster is in very good+ to excellent vintage condition and presents extremely well.
The blue and yellow colours remain exceptionally strong, while the typography and photographic image retain excellent definition. There are minor handling creases, minor surface marks and gentle age toning visible on the verso. There is also some very light spotting toward the lower reverse, consistent with a paper artifact printed more than five decades ago.
Its condition is notably strong for an ephemeral speed-format theatrical poster of this age.
Please refer to the front, reverse and detailed photographs, which show the exact poster offered for sale. Once appropriately framed, it will display excellently.
It is over 50 years old.
It is not a reproduction or a reprint.
Certificate of Authenticity included.
