“1941” (１９４１ / いちきゅうよんいち), Rare Original Japanese First-Release Advance Teaser Movie Poster 1979, B1 Size (c. 72 × 103 cm) HAK-A

This is an original Japanese B1 advance teaser poster produced for the first-release campaign of Steven Spielberg’s 1941. The film is an anarchic Second World War comedy starring John Belushi, Dan Aykroyd, Ned Beatty, Robert Stack, Nancy Allen, Christopher Lee and Japanese screen legend Toshirō Mifune.

Set in Southern California shortly after the attack on Pearl Harbor, the film transforms public fear of a possible Japanese invasion into an enormous ensemble farce filled with aircraft, tanks, submarines, explosions and escalating civic chaos. Although the poster carries a 1979 copyright line and is conventionally dated according to the film’s original production year, 1941 opened theatrically in Japan on 8 March 1980. This is original first-release Japanese advertising and not material from a later revival.

Design

This is one of the most eccentric and brilliantly self-referential Japanese designs created for a Steven Spielberg film. Rather than presenting the enormous ensemble cast or the explosive Hollywood battle scenes, the poster turns Spielberg himself—and the reputation of his earlier blockbusters—into the central attraction.

The entire composition is enclosed within the enormous open jaws of a shark, an unmistakable visual reference to Spielberg’s Jaws. Its pale, hand-drawn teeth surround a midnight-blue seascape, transforming the shark’s mouth into both a frame and a theatrical proscenium.

Inside the jaws, a caricature of Spielberg appears wearing his trademark glasses and a vivid red baseball cap marked “1941.” He rides astride a submarine periscope like a hobby horse, pointing decisively toward the horizon as a white wake cuts through the water behind him. The periscope also alludes to the film’s opening sequence, which mischievously recreates the moonlit swimming scene from Jaws before replacing the expected shark attack with the sudden appearance of a Japanese submarine.

The deep field of stars, distant mountain silhouettes and mysterious glow rising from the horizon simultaneously evoke the celestial atmosphere of Close Encounters of the Third Kind. The result is a knowing visual collision between Spielberg’s two preceding blockbusters: the threatening jaws of the ocean below and the unexplained light of the heavens above.

The original Japanese campaign line across the top reads:

「でっかいことやるなアメリカ映画。『ジョーズ』『未知との遭遇』のスピルバーグがまたまた何かをたくらんでいるぞ！」

“American cinema really does things big. Spielberg of Jaws and Close Encounters of the Third Kind is up to something again!”

Across the bottom, the title 1941 is rendered in immense solid-black numerals. Small phonetic characters beneath the numbers establish the intended Japanese pronunciation—いち・きゅう・よん・いち—rather than reading the date as sen kyūhyaku yonjūichi. The extraordinary scale of the numerals gives the lower section a heavy, monolithic presence, while the shark’s lower teeth puncture the interior of the zero.

The absence of a conventional cast montage, release date or extensive credit block reinforces the poster’s status as an advance teaser. It sells the film through anticipation, visual wit and the recognisable Spielberg name rather than through narrative detail.

Rarity

Japanese B1 posters measure approximately 72.8 × 103 cm, providing roughly twice the printed surface area of the standard Japanese B2 format. They were intended for larger, high-impact theatrical displays and are encountered considerably less frequently than their smaller B2 counterparts.

This particular B1 teaser is especially scarce. It was created for the early promotional stage of the film’s original Japanese campaign and would have been displayed only until cinemas received the principal release artwork. Unlike the much busier Japanese B2 campaign poster, which presents the film’s cast and scenes of Hollywood destruction, this B1 reduces the entire concept to the shark’s mouth, Spielberg caricature, submarine periscope and glowing celestial horizon.

Original examples rarely appear, particularly in strong, unbacked condition. The combination of large B1 format, first-release teaser status, Japan-specific artwork and direct visual references to both Jaws and Close Encounters of the Third Kind makes this a particularly desirable piece for collectors of Steven Spielberg, Toshirō Mifune and late-1970s Japanese film-poster design. Contemporary poster archives likewise describe this format as a scarce Japanese B1 teaser.

Condition

Excellent condition overall, with rich blue colouring across the ocean and night sky, deep black typography and strong cream and sepia tones throughout the surrounding shark illustration. Spielberg’s red cap and the metallic periscope remain exceptionally vivid, giving the poster tremendous display impact.

There are some soft handling creases, shallow surface impressions and light natural paper undulation, principally across the central and lower portions of the sheet. A few gentle horizontal storage lines and minor age-related edge and corner marks are also visible under close inspection. These are modest for an unbacked B1 theatrical poster of this age and do not detract from the strength of the artwork.

The reverse is clean and unbacked, with corresponding soft creasing and light handling consistent with the poster’s substantial size. There is no significant staining, foxing, paper loss or restoration apparent in the supplied photographs. Once professionally framed, the poster will display exceptionally well.

Please review all photographs carefully; they show the exact poster for sale, front and back.

This is an original Japanese B1 advance teaser poster from the film’s first-release campaign.
It is not a reproduction or a reprint.

It dates from 1979 and is over 46 years old.

Certificate of Authenticity included.