“Closing Time” (閉店時間 / Heiten Jikan), Original Japanese Release STB Tatekan Movie Poster 1962, STB Size (approx. 51 × 145 cm) P219

This is an original Japanese STB tatekan poster printed in 1962 for the first Japanese theatrical release of Closing Time, a Daiei Tokyo colour Cinemascope workplace romance / drama directed by Umetsugu Inoue, adapted from a work by Sawako Ariyoshi, with screenplay by Yoshio Shirasaka and music by Hachidai Nakamura. The film was released in Japan on 18 April 1962 and stars Ayako Wakao, Hitomi Nozoe, Kyoko Enami, Hiroshi Kawaguchi, and Keizō Kawasaki.

Film background
Closing Time belongs to that fascinating early-1960s moment in Japanese studio cinema when the department store, the office, and the rhythms of urban working life became rich material for drama. Japanese trade and database material marketed the film explicitly around love, marriage, separation, and the emotional lives of modern “BG” women, presenting it as a large-scale youth / literary drama rather than a lightweight programmer. That context matters: this is not just a romance, but a sharply period piece about women, work, and post-war modernity, led by one of Daiei’s great stars, Ayako Wakao. It also sits within the remarkable career of Umetsugu Inoue, now recognised by the National Film Archive of Japan as one of the most prolific and important entertainment directors of the post-war era, ultimately directing 116 films across Japan’s major studios and later in Hong Kong.

Poster design
A superb and highly unusual tatekan design, this piece has the towering vertical impact that makes the format so desirable. The composition is brilliantly segmented: an elegant, oversized close-up of Ayako Wakao dominates the upper half, while bold blocks of colour introduce the wider ensemble below, including stylish inset portrait panels and full-length fashion-driven figure work that immediately evoke the department-store / urban-modern setting. The huge pink title 閉店時間 running down the dark vertical band gives the poster tremendous graphic authority, while the left-side tagline—about women’s problems beginning when the store closes—perfectly captures the film’s premise. As a format, the STB / tatekan is especially collectible: it is a distinctly Japanese exhibition size made by joining two B2 sheets vertically, designed for theatre signboards and outdoor display, which gives it a far stronger physical presence than a standard one-sheet.

Condition
Very Good. Please review the photos—they show the exact poster for sale. The poster has the expected signs of period cinema use, with age toning and noticeable foxing / staining to the reverse, heaviest toward the lower section. The front still displays strongly, with excellent colour, striking contrast, and very good wall presence for such a rare surviving STB example.

It is over 63 years old!
It is not a reproduction or a reprint.
Certificate of Authenticity included.