{"product_id":"dodes-ka-den-どですかでん-1970-original-japanese-b1-theatrical-poster-artwork-by-akira-kurosawa-ultra-rare-b1-oversize-original-japanese-release-campaign-1970-kurosawa-painted-artwork-c-72-8-103-cm-28-7-40-6-in-very-good-to-excellent","title":"“DODES’KA-DEN \/ どですかでん” (1970) – ORIGINAL JAPANESE B1 THEATRICAL POSTER – ARTWORK BY AKIRA KUROSAWA Ultra‑Rare B1 Oversize | Original Japanese Release Campaign (1970) | Kurosawa‑Painted Artwork | c. 72.8 × 103 cm (28.7 × 40.6 in) | Very Good+ to Excellent","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"qMYqUG_convSearchResultHighlightRoot\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"\" data-turn-id-container=\"1e0d5a32-e849-46de-b3e7-b1f529e7c89d\" data-is-intersecting=\"true\"\u003e\n\u003csection class=\"text-token-text-primary w-full focus:outline-none has-data-writing-block:pointer-events-none [\u0026amp;:has([data-writing-block])\u0026gt;*]:pointer-events-auto R6Vx5W_threadScrollVars scroll-mb-[calc(var(--scroll-root-safe-area-inset-bottom,0px)+var(--thread-response-height))] scroll-mt-[calc(var(--header-height)+min(200px,max(70px,20svh)))]\" dir=\"auto\" data-turn-id=\"1e0d5a32-e849-46de-b3e7-b1f529e7c89d\" data-turn-id-container=\"1e0d5a32-e849-46de-b3e7-b1f529e7c89d\" data-testid=\"conversation-turn-2\" data-turn=\"assistant\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"text-base my-auto mx-auto pb-15 [--thread-content-margin:var(--thread-content-margin-xs,calc(var(--spacing)*4))] @w-sm\/main:[--thread-content-margin:var(--thread-content-margin-sm,calc(var(--spacing)*6))] @w-lg\/main:[--thread-content-margin:var(--thread-content-margin-lg,calc(var(--spacing)*16))] px-(--thread-content-margin)\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv data-conversation-screenshot-content=\"\" class=\"[--thread-content-max-width:40rem] @w-lg\/main:[--thread-content-max-width:48rem] mx-auto max-w-(--thread-content-max-width) flex-1 group\/turn-messages focus-visible:outline-hidden relative flex w-full min-w-0 flex-col agent-turn\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"flex max-w-full flex-col gap-4 grow\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv data-message-author-role=\"assistant\" data-message-id=\"24e325f7-453d-4977-b96a-b1900fcd4765\" data-turn-start-message=\"true\" dir=\"auto\" data-message-model-slug=\"gpt-5-6-pro\" class=\"min-h-8 text-message relative flex w-full flex-col items-end gap-2 text-start break-words whitespace-normal outline-none keyboard-focused:focus-ring [.text-message+\u0026amp;]:mt-1\" tabindex=\"0\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"flex w-full flex-col gap-1 empty:hidden\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"markdown prose dark:prose-invert wrap-break-word w-full light markdown-new-styling\"\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"372\" data-end=\"583\" class=\"PDq2pG_selectionAnchorContainer\"\u003eAn extraordinary and historically significant \u003cstrong data-start=\"418\" data-end=\"460\"\u003eoriginal Japanese B1 theatrical poster\u003c\/strong\u003e for Akira Kurosawa’s 1970 film \u003cem data-start=\"492\" data-end=\"506\"\u003eDodes’ka-den\u003c\/em\u003e (どですかでん), featuring the director’s own intensely expressive painted artwork.\u003cspan aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"PDq2pG_selectionAnchor\"\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"585\" data-end=\"954\"\u003eRather than relying on photography or conventional studio advertising, this remarkable design presents the film as a complete psychological landscape: Rokuchan operating his invisible tram, a maze of improvised houses, a radiant yellow sun filled with the settlement’s inhabitants, and the name \u003cstrong data-start=\"880\" data-end=\"900\"\u003e“Akira Kurosawa”\u003c\/strong\u003e sweeping across the composition in bold Roman script.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"956\" data-end=\"1226\"\u003eThe result is less a conventional film poster than an oversized Kurosawa painting—raw, saturated and deeply personal. Its rough textures, blazing yellows, acidic greens and burnt reds perfectly reflect the film’s collision of deprivation, fantasy and emotional survival.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"1228\" data-end=\"1634\"\u003eFor collectors of Japanese cinema, this is a \u003cstrong data-start=\"1273\" data-end=\"1308\"\u003etop-tier Kurosawa poster format\u003c\/strong\u003e. Japan’s standard theatrical poster size is B2; the B1 is twice the surface area and was produced in substantially smaller quantities for larger, high-impact cinema displays. Surviving original B1 examples for \u003cem data-start=\"1519\" data-end=\"1533\"\u003eDodes’ka-den\u003c\/em\u003e are exceptionally difficult to encounter, particularly in such strong, highly displayable condition.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"1636\" data-end=\"1970\"\u003eThe sheet retains its original Japanese production and distribution information, including the \u003cstrong data-start=\"1731\" data-end=\"1823\"\u003eFour Knights production credit, Toho distribution credit and Eirin approval number 70531\u003c\/strong\u003e. The large “Akira Kurosawa” lettering is an integral printed element of the artwork and should not be mistaken for a separately applied autograph.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003chr data-start=\"1972\" data-end=\"1975\"\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"1977\" data-end=\"2032\"\u003e\u003cstrong data-start=\"1977\" data-end=\"2032\"\u003eOriginal Japanese Release and First Colour Campaign\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"2034\" data-end=\"2275\"\u003e\u003cem data-start=\"2034\" data-end=\"2048\"\u003eDodes’ka-den\u003c\/em\u003e was released theatrically in Japan in \u003cstrong data-start=\"2087\" data-end=\"2103\"\u003eOctober 1970\u003c\/strong\u003e. This B1 belongs to the film’s original Japanese release campaign and is an authentic period item created to promote the film at the moment of its first public exhibition.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"2277\" data-end=\"2469\"\u003eThe poster’s upper-right credits prominently identify it as a \u003cstrong data-start=\"2339\" data-end=\"2360\"\u003ecolour production\u003c\/strong\u003e, an especially important detail because \u003cem data-start=\"2401\" data-end=\"2415\"\u003eDodes’ka-den\u003c\/em\u003e was \u003cstrong data-start=\"2420\" data-end=\"2468\"\u003eKurosawa’s first feature film made in colour\u003c\/strong\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"2471\" data-end=\"2695\"\u003eThe film was adapted from stories in Shūgorō Yamamoto’s \u003cem data-start=\"2527\" data-end=\"2551\"\u003eA Town Without Seasons\u003c\/em\u003e (\u003cem data-start=\"2553\" data-end=\"2575\"\u003eKisetsu no Nai Machi\u003c\/em\u003e), depicting an isolated community living in a makeshift settlement constructed amid the debris of a Tokyo rubbish dump.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"2697\" data-end=\"2975\"\u003eThis was a radical departure from the historical dramas, samurai films and carefully controlled monochrome compositions most closely associated with Kurosawa. Colour here was not employed simply to reproduce reality. It became an emotional and psychological language of its own.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003chr data-start=\"2977\" data-end=\"2980\"\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"2982\" data-end=\"3030\"\u003e\u003cstrong data-start=\"2982\" data-end=\"3030\"\u003eA Crucial Turning Point in Kurosawa’s Career\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"3032\" data-end=\"3128\"\u003e\u003cem data-start=\"3032\" data-end=\"3046\"\u003eDodes’ka-den\u003c\/em\u003e emerged during one of the most uncertain periods of Kurosawa’s professional life.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"3130\" data-end=\"3536\"\u003eFollowing his troubled departure from the American-Japanese production of \u003cem data-start=\"3204\" data-end=\"3223\"\u003eTora! Tora! Tora!\u003c\/em\u003e, Kurosawa returned to Japan at a time when the country’s established studio system was changing rapidly. Seeking greater artistic independence, he joined fellow directors \u003cstrong data-start=\"3395\" data-end=\"3451\"\u003eKeisuke Kinoshita, Masaki Kobayashi and Kon Ichikawa\u003c\/strong\u003e in forming the independent production group \u003cstrong data-start=\"3496\" data-end=\"3535\"\u003eThe Club of the Four Knights — 四騎の会\u003c\/strong\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"3538\" data-end=\"3600\"\u003eThe group’s production credit appears directly on this poster.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"3602\" data-end=\"3815\"\u003eTheir first project was \u003cem data-start=\"3626\" data-end=\"3640\"\u003eDodes’ka-den\u003c\/em\u003e: an ensemble film without a conventional heroic protagonist, constructed from interconnected portraits of people surviving through dreams, delusions, routine and imagination.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"3817\" data-end=\"4108\"\u003eIts visual approach was unlike anything Kurosawa had previously made. Sets were painted in deliberately artificial colours, skies and walls were transformed into emotional surfaces, and the boundary between the characters’ external surroundings and internal fantasies was repeatedly blurred.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"4110\" data-end=\"4267\"\u003eThe poster captures that same concept in a single image. It does not merely advertise the film—it communicates the film’s entire visual and emotional method.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003chr data-start=\"4269\" data-end=\"4272\"\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"4274\" data-end=\"4298\"\u003e\u003cstrong data-start=\"4274\" data-end=\"4298\"\u003eKurosawa the Painter\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"4300\" data-end=\"4501\"\u003eBefore establishing himself as a filmmaker, \u003cstrong data-start=\"4344\" data-end=\"4393\"\u003eAkira Kurosawa pursued Western-style painting\u003c\/strong\u003e, and throughout his directing career he continued to express ideas through drawing and painted storyboards.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"4503\" data-end=\"4779\"\u003eThese images were not merely functional production sketches. Kurosawa used colour, texture and composition to communicate movement, lighting, costume and atmosphere to his collaborators. His later painted storyboards are now recognised as substantial works in their own right.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"4781\" data-end=\"4958\"\u003eIt was nevertheless unusual for Kurosawa’s raw, painterly visual language to dominate the public-facing artwork of an original theatrical campaign as completely as it does here.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"4960\" data-end=\"5295\"\u003eThe poster’s rough crayon-like marks, thick fields of colour and deliberately simplified figures recall European post-impressionist and expressionist painting. The saturated yellow and green upper section has an almost van Gogh-like intensity, while the lower landscape dissolves into restless streaks of red, orange, brown and violet.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"5297\" data-end=\"5510\"\u003eAt B1 scale, the physical energy of the artwork becomes especially apparent. Brush marks, scratched lines and abrupt changes of texture remain visible across the sheet, preserving the immediacy of Kurosawa’s hand.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003chr data-start=\"5512\" data-end=\"5515\"\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"5517\" data-end=\"5552\"\u003e\u003cstrong data-start=\"5517\" data-end=\"5552\"\u003eInside Kurosawa’s Painted World\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"5554\" data-end=\"5642\"\u003eThis composition functions as a visual map of the film’s settlement and its inhabitants.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"5644\" data-end=\"6116\"\u003e\u003cstrong data-start=\"5644\" data-end=\"5680\"\u003eRokuchan and the invisible tram:\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr data-start=\"5680\" data-end=\"5683\"\u003eThe large figure at the lower right is Rokuchan, the young man whose imaginary tram gives the film its title. Each day he travels through the settlement while chanting “dodes’ka-den,” imitating the rhythmic sound of wheels moving along railway tracks. Kurosawa depicts him with an enlarged head, concentrated gaze and hands positioned around invisible controls, completely immersed in the vehicle that exists only in his imagination.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"6118\" data-end=\"6449\"\u003e\u003cstrong data-start=\"6118\" data-end=\"6137\"\u003eThe shantytown:\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr data-start=\"6137\" data-end=\"6140\"\u003eAcross the lower half, improvised houses and scrap-built structures appear to slide diagonally through an oppressive landscape of burnt red, brown and orange. The buildings are unstable, tightly packed and individually distorted, conveying both physical poverty and the emotional dislocation of the community.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"6451\" data-end=\"6728\"\u003e\u003cstrong data-start=\"6451\" data-end=\"6478\"\u003eThe radiant yellow sun:\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr data-start=\"6478\" data-end=\"6481\"\u003eAbove the settlement rises an enormous yellow and orange circular form. It can be read simultaneously as a sun, a halo, a stage and a protected imaginative world. Its brilliant colour provides a dramatic counterpoint to the darker landscape below.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"6730\" data-end=\"7100\"\u003e\u003cstrong data-start=\"6730\" data-end=\"6758\"\u003eThe revolving community:\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr data-start=\"6758\" data-end=\"6761\"\u003eInside the yellow circle, the film’s inhabitants appear in a loose, dreamlike procession. Their simplified bodies overlap and move in different directions, creating a carousel of gestures and private narratives. Each figure seems suspended between the material hardship of the settlement and an internal world that offers temporary escape.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"7102\" data-end=\"7335\"\u003e\u003cstrong data-start=\"7102\" data-end=\"7126\"\u003eThe red wheel motif:\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr data-start=\"7126\" data-end=\"7129\"\u003eBeside the Japanese title is a vivid red circular form resembling both a sun and a tram wheel. It connects the title’s mechanical rhythm with the poster’s larger imagery of movement, fantasy and repetition.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"7337\" data-end=\"7662\"\u003e\u003cstrong data-start=\"7337\" data-end=\"7364\"\u003eThe Kurosawa lettering:\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr data-start=\"7364\" data-end=\"7367\"\u003eThe sweeping black \u003cstrong data-start=\"7386\" data-end=\"7406\"\u003e“Akira Kurosawa”\u003c\/strong\u003e script cuts through the centre of the artwork and becomes part of the landscape itself. It asserts the director’s visual authorship in unusually direct fashion. \u003cstrong data-start=\"7568\" data-end=\"7662\"\u003eThis lettering is printed as part of the poster design and is not a hand-signed autograph.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"7664\" data-end=\"7915\"\u003e\u003cstrong data-start=\"7664\" data-end=\"7697\"\u003eOriginal theatrical markings:\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr data-start=\"7697\" data-end=\"7700\"\u003eThe sheet retains the original Japanese credits, \u003cstrong data-start=\"7749\" data-end=\"7812\"\u003eToho distribution information and Eirin approval mark 70531\u003c\/strong\u003e, details consistent with an authentic theatrical campaign poster rather than a later decorative print.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003chr data-start=\"7917\" data-end=\"7920\"\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"7922\" data-end=\"7977\"\u003e\u003cstrong data-start=\"7922\" data-end=\"7977\"\u003eThe Japanese B1 Format and Its Exceptional Scarcity\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"7979\" data-end=\"8159\"\u003eA standard Japanese B1 poster measures approximately \u003cstrong data-start=\"8032\" data-end=\"8070\"\u003e72.8 × 103 cm — 28.7 × 40.6 inches\u003c\/strong\u003e. It is twice the surface area of Japan’s more commonly encountered B2 theatrical format.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"8161\" data-end=\"8520\"\u003eB2 posters formed the principal nationwide advertising format and were distributed across ordinary cinemas and promotional locations. B1 sheets occupied a different category. Their size made them suitable for larger lobby panels, prominent poster cases and other high-impact placements, and they were normally produced and distributed in much smaller numbers.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"8522\" data-end=\"8783\"\u003eNo reliable surviving print-run figures are known for this particular campaign, so numerical rarity claims should be treated cautiously. What is clear is that original B1 posters had a \u003cstrong\u003esignificantly lower production and survival rate\u003c\/strong\u003e than their B2 counterparts.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"8785\" data-end=\"9063\"\u003eTheir size also worked against preservation. These were temporary advertising materials, frequently handled, mounted, removed and discarded after relatively short theatrical runs. A B1 was considerably more difficult for cinema employees or collectors to store safely than a B2.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"9065\" data-end=\"9479\"\u003eThat inherent scarcity is intensified in the case of \u003cem data-start=\"9118\" data-end=\"9132\"\u003eDodes’ka-den\u003c\/em\u003e. The film’s disappointing initial commercial performance meant that its paper was not preserved in the way posters for major contemporary hits sometimes were. Today, original Japanese B1 examples are seldom offered publicly and occupy a particularly important position within serious collections of Kurosawa and post-war Japanese cinema material.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003chr data-start=\"9481\" data-end=\"9484\"\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"9486\" data-end=\"9541\"\u003e\u003cstrong data-start=\"9486\" data-end=\"9541\"\u003eThe Four Knights and the Film’s Difficult Afterlife\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"9543\" data-end=\"9742\"\u003eAlthough now recognised as one of Kurosawa’s most visually adventurous works, \u003cem data-start=\"9621\" data-end=\"9635\"\u003eDodes’ka-den\u003c\/em\u003e was poorly received by much of the Japanese audience and critical establishment upon its original release.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"9744\" data-end=\"10078\"\u003eIts deliberately theatrical colour, episodic narrative and uncompromising depiction of marginalised lives stood far outside contemporary expectations of a Kurosawa film. The financial failure severely damaged the newly established Four Knights venture and deepened an already serious professional and personal crisis for the director.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"10080\" data-end=\"10236\"\u003eKurosawa entered a prolonged period of depression and survived a suicide attempt in 1971. He would not complete another feature until \u003cem data-start=\"10214\" data-end=\"10227\"\u003eDersu Uzala\u003c\/em\u003e in 1975.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"10238\" data-end=\"10555\"\u003eThat history gives this poster unusual emotional weight. It records the moment Kurosawa attempted to reinvent his cinema through colour, independent production and painterly experimentation—an artistic leap that was initially rejected but would later be understood as one of the boldest transformations of his career.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"10557\" data-end=\"10727\"\u003eThis is not simply advertising for a film. It is a surviving canvas from \u003cstrong data-start=\"10630\" data-end=\"10726\"\u003eone of the most vulnerable, experimental and consequential chapters in Akira Kurosawa’s life\u003c\/strong\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003chr data-start=\"10729\" data-end=\"10732\"\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"10734\" data-end=\"10754\"\u003e\u003cstrong data-start=\"10734\" data-end=\"10754\"\u003eCondition Report\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"10756\" data-end=\"10891\"\u003e\u003cstrong data-start=\"10756\" data-end=\"10806\"\u003eOverall presentation: Very Good+ to Excellent.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr data-start=\"10806\" data-end=\"10809\"\u003e\u003cstrong data-start=\"10809\" data-end=\"10846\"\u003eImage area and colour: Excellent.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr data-start=\"10846\" data-end=\"10849\"\u003e\u003cstrong data-start=\"10849\" data-end=\"10891\"\u003eTechnical paper condition: Very Good+.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"10893\" data-end=\"11185\"\u003eThis is a strong, highly displayable original B1 with exceptionally vivid colour and a clean, powerful overall appearance. The yellow, green, red and orange areas remain rich and saturated, while the fine black line work, Japanese credits and small theatrical markings remain clearly legible.\u003cstrong data-start=\"11714\" data-end=\"11744\"\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"12499\" data-end=\"12634\"\u003e\u003cstrong data-start=\"12499\" data-end=\"12516\"\u003eAuthenticity:\u003c\/strong\u003e Original 1970 Japanese B1 theatrical poster — \u003cstrong data-start=\"12563\" data-end=\"12633\"\u003enot a reproduction, commercial reprint or later decorative edition\u003c\/strong\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"12636\" data-end=\"12745\" data-is-last-node=\"\" data-is-only-node=\"\"\u003e\u003cstrong data-start=\"12636\" data-end=\"12745\" data-is-last-node=\"\"\u003eThe photographs show the exact poster offered, including the front, reverse and detailed condition areas.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv data-conversation-screenshot-content=\"\" class=\"[--thread-content-max-width:40rem] @w-lg\/main:[--thread-content-max-width:48rem] mx-auto max-w-(--thread-content-max-width) flex-1\"\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/section\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Japan Poster Shop","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57089250197882,"sku":null,"price":1975.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0424\/8859\/4591\/files\/man-looking-at-an-art-gallery-wall_100.jpg?v=1784517114","url":"https:\/\/japanposter.co.uk\/products\/dodes-ka-den-%e3%81%a9%e3%81%a7%e3%81%99%e3%81%8b%e3%81%a7%e3%82%93-1970-original-japanese-b1-theatrical-poster-artwork-by-akira-kurosawa-ultra-rare-b1-oversize-original-japanese-release-campaign-1970-kurosawa-painted-artwork-c-72-8-103-cm-28-7-40-6-in-very-good-to-excellent","provider":"Japan Poster Shop","version":"1.0","type":"link"}