"A Coffin for the Sheriff", Original Release Japanese Movie Poster 1965, STB Size (51x145cm) O419

Una bara per lo sceriffo (A Coffin for the Sheriff) — Original Japanese STB (Tatekan), 1965

Size: STB / 20 × 57 in (51 × 145 cm)
Country / Studio: Japan / Italian import

Film & context
Directed by Mario Caiano and starring Anthony Steffen, this is core Spaghetti—revenge, a haunted drifter, and a town held by fear. Japanese audiences, primed by jidai‑geki (period samurai films), immediately recognized the ronin‑like drifter archetype that Italian westerns borrowed from Kurosawa and remixed with Catholic imagery and Morricone‑style scores.

Design highlights
The Japanese title 「荒野の棺桶」(Kōya no Kan’oke / “Coffin of the Wilderness”) tears vertically in blood‑red. A small blue sash mid‑panel states 「イタリア西部劇・日本語版」—“Italian Western, Japanese‑language version.” The right‑hand hype line translates:

“Into a town of death comes the demon of vengeance! With the red setting sun at his back—one against twenty—the matchless death match!”
A dust‑storm cavalry charge across the bottom band gives the piece cinematic breadth; above, the iconic extreme close‑up of the gun barrel is pure Spaghetti grammar.

Condition
Theatre‑used on thin Japanese stock; original folds; vibrant, unfaded reds—excellent display.

Authentication
Original; COA included.

About STB (Tatekan) posters

STBs are tall, two‑sheet verticals (c. 51 × 145 cm) printed on thin stock and designed to be posted outdoors on purpose‑built wooden stands at cinemas and busy transit approaches. They functioned as mini billboards; because they were exposed to weather and changed frequently, most were discarded. Original survivors are ultra‑rare, especially for Spaghetti Westerns at the height of their Japanese popularity.