"Floating Weeds" (浮草, Ukigusa), Original Release Japanese Movie Poster 1959, Yasujirō Ozu, Ultra Rare, B2 Size (c. 51 x 73cm) Q302

UKIGUSA / 浮草
Japan (Daiei), 1959
Original first-release Japanese theatrical poster (B2)
Colour-printed poster on paper, originally folded and subsequently stored flat

A beautiful—and genuinely scarce—country-of-origin Japanese B2 for Yasujirō Ozu’s Floating Weeds (Ukigusa): his luminous 1959 colour masterpiece for Daiei and one of the defining achievements of his late career.

This is the kind of postwar Japanese theatrical paper that was rarely preserved with collectors in mind. B2 posters were supplied to cinemas as working publicity and generally discarded after a film’s engagement. Original first-release examples for canonical Ozu titles are consequently very difficult to obtain—especially with strong colour, complete margins and such a remarkably fresh overall appearance.

This particular poster may never have been displayed. Although it was previously folded, the absence of obvious display-related wear in the exposed areas suggests that it may have been folded and then carefully stored flat for much of its life. This cannot be established with absolute certainty, but it would explain the poster’s exceptional preservation.

“A superb piece of original Japanese cinema history: Ozu, Miyagawa and Daiei Color preserved in remarkably fresh first-release paper.”

Key Facts

Film: Ukigusa (Floating Weeds / 浮草)

Director: Yasujirō Ozu（小津安二郎）

Screenplay: Kōgo Noda（野田高梧）and Yasujirō Ozu（小津安二郎）

Producer: Masaichi Nagata（永田雅一）

Cinematography: Kazuo Miyagawa（宮川一夫）

Studio / Distributor: Daiei（大映）

Release: 17 November 1959 (Japan)

Running time: 119 minutes

Poster format: Japanese B2 — approximately 51.5 × 72.8 cm (20.25 × 28.7 in)

Rarity and Market Context

Japanese B2 posters were made to be used—not preserved

In 1950s Japan, B2 posters were functional cinema materials. They were commonly handled by theatre staff, displayed for a limited engagement and then discarded when the next programme arrived. 

Surviving first-release posters become particularly scarce when the film is an internationally celebrated work by a director such as Ozu. Public appearances of this exact Floating Weeds B2 design are infrequent, and it surfaces only very occasionally. 

Why this title matters for collectors

Floating Weeds occupies an exceptional position at the intersection of major auteur cinema, first-release Japanese paper, Daiei’s celebrated star system and landmark colour cinematography. It was Ozu’s only film for Daiei and his sole collaboration with Kazuo Miyagawa, the cinematographer renowned for his work on Rashomon, Ugetsu and many of the defining Japanese films of the postwar period.

For collectors of Ozu, Japanese cinema or twentieth-century graphic design, an original 1959 country-of-origin B2 represents something fundamentally different from a later re-release, restoration or export poster. It is an artefact produced at the moment the film first entered Japanese cinemas.

Yasujirō Ozu and the Status of Ukigusa

Ozu in full colour—at Daiei

Floating Weeds is Ozu’s colour remake of his own 1934 silent film A Story of Floating Weeds. The later version relocates the story to a sunlit seaside community and surrounds Ozu with leading Daiei performers, including Ganjirō Nakamura II, Machiko Kyō, Ayako Wakao and Hiroshi Kawaguchi, alongside familiar Ozu collaborators such as Haruko Sugimura and Chishū Ryū.

It was the only film Ozu made for Daiei rather than his customary studio, Shochiku. That change gave the production a distinctive atmosphere while leaving Ozu’s formal discipline intact. His low camera positions, carefully ordered interiors, frontal compositions and understated transitions are combined with the rich colour sensibility of Kazuo Miyagawa.

Miyagawa’s photography is central to the film’s reputation. The production was photographed in Agfa colour, and the film is celebrated for its painterly control of red, yellow, green and blue. Ozu’s precise compositions and Miyagawa’s mastery of light and colour produced what has frequently been described as one of the most visually beautiful films in Ozu’s body of work.

The film: a masterwork of adult emotion

A travelling theatre troupe arrives in a small seaside town. Its ageing leader, Komajūrō, quietly renews contact with former lover Oyoshi and their adult son Kiyoshi, who has been raised without knowing that Komajūrō is his father. When Komajūrō’s current mistress, Sumiko, discovers the relationship, jealousy leads her to send the younger actress Kayo to seduce Kiyoshi.

From this deceptively simple premise, Ozu constructs a deeply human drama about performance, parenthood, jealousy, ageing, concealed identity and emotional responsibility. The title’s “floating weeds” evoke the itinerant actors themselves—people without permanent roots, carried from place to place by their profession and circumstances.

The film contains some of Ozu’s most powerful emotional confrontations, including the celebrated sequence in which Komajūrō and Sumiko argue from opposite sides of a rain-filled street. Yet even at its most dramatic, the film remains governed by Ozu’s restraint, visual precision and sympathy for the compromises of ordinary life.

The film’s reputation has continued to grow internationally. Its restoration was produced from a 4K scan of the original negative, and the restored version received a major presentation at the Museum of Modern Art in New York in 2018. Today, Floating Weeds is widely regarded as one of Ozu’s finest colour films and one of the great achievements of postwar Japanese cinema.

The B2 Format

B2 is the classic Japanese theatrical poster format, measuring approximately 51.5 × 72.8 cm. It was the principal single-sheet size displayed inside cinemas, in entrance areas and in other promotional locations.

Its apparent everydayness is precisely why original examples have become scarce. These were practical advertising objects rather than limited-edition art prints. A genuine first-release B2 for Floating Weeds, surviving complete and with colour of this quality, is the kind of piece that can anchor a serious collection of Japanese cinema paper.

Poster Design: Daiei-Era Colour Elegance Meets Ozu Iconography

This poster is exceptional not only for the importance of the film but for the intelligence and visual impact of its design:

Portrait-led composition: The principal colour tableau presents Hiroshi Kawaguchi, Machiko Kyō and Ayako Wakao against the architecture and blue-grey sky of the seaside town. Kyō and Wakao wear patterned yukata and woven travelling hats, immediately evoking the film’s world of itinerant performance.

Monumental calligraphic title: The title 「浮草」 dominates the lower-left in sweeping dark-magenta brush lettering. It functions simultaneously as the film’s title and as a bold piece of Japanese graphic design.

Ozu and Daiei colour: The red vertical director credit 「小津安二郎監督作品」 balances the large title, while 「大映カラー / 総天然色」 announces the film’s full-colour presentation.

Integrated character imagery: Smaller full-length portraits of Ganjirō Nakamura and Hitomi Nozoe appear within the lower section, linking the large photographic tableau with the billing and production credits.

Studio-era cast typography: The cast is arranged in a dense, carefully balanced block of Japanese characters, giving the lower section a distinctive graphic rhythm. The printed billing includes Ganjirō Nakamura, Machiko Kyō, Ayako Wakao, Hiroshi Kawaguchi, Haruko Sugimura, Hitomi Nozoe, Chishū Ryū, Kōji Mitsui, Haruo Tanaka, Yōsuke Irie, Hikaru Hoshi, Mantarō Ushio, Kumeko Urabe, Toyo Takahashi and Mutsuko Sakura, among others.

Text and Translation Notes

Below are key on-sheet texts and their English meanings:

Main title: 浮草 — “Floating Weeds” (Ukigusa)

Top tagline: 最高の感動と溢れる詩情！小津芸術の華ひらく！
“Supreme emotion and overflowing lyricism—Ozu’s art bursts into bloom!”

Festival note: 芸術祭参加作品 — “Arts Festival participating work”

Director credit: 小津安二郎監督作品 — “A film directed by Yasujirō Ozu”

Colour-process billing: 大映カラー / 総天然色 — “Daiei Color / Full natural colour”

Production credit: 製作 永田雅一 — “Produced by Masaichi Nagata”

Screenplay credit: 脚本 野田高梧・小津安二郎 — “Screenplay by Kōgo Noda and Yasujirō Ozu”

Cinematography credit: 撮影 宮川一夫 — “Cinematography by Kazuo Miyagawa”

Verso (Reverse): Clean, Carefully Preserved Paper

The reverse is unusually clean for a Japanese theatrical poster of this age. 

The poster was previously folded and has subsequently been stored flat. Given the exceptionally clean verso, strong margins and lack of obvious display wear in the visible areas, it is quite possible that the poster was never displayed and was instead folded for distribution before being carefully preserved. 

Condition

Excellent, especially for an original first-release Japanese B2 from 1959.

The poster retains strong, well-preserved colour, excellent photographic definition, complete margins and an exceptionally clean overall presentation. The blue-grey sky, patterned costumes, magenta title lettering, red director credit and Daiei colour billing remain vivid and visually impressive.

The poster was originally folded and has subsequently been stored flat. The original horizontal and vertical fold lines remain visible, together with minor associated crease texture, light handling impressions and very slight age-related wear. There is mild natural toning and front-image show-through on the reverse, with a small period pencil notation near the upper-left corner.

Its condition strongly suggests very careful long-term storage and is exceptionally attractive for a poster now more than 66 years old.

Please review the provided photographs carefully—they show the exact poster offered for sale and form part of the condition description.

It is not a reproduction or a reprint.

Certificate of Authenticity

Certificate of Authenticity included.