“HOPE Cigarettes” — Ultra-Rare Original Pre-War Japanese Advertising Poster, c. 1931–1940 — Hiroshima Regional Monopoly Bureau — 77 × 53 cm S170

This is an exceptionally scarce, original pre-war Japanese advertising poster for the first generation of HOPE Cigarettes, issued under the authority of the Hiroshima Regional Monopoly Bureau — 廣島地方專賣局 (Hiroshima Chihō Senbaikyoku; modern characters: 広島地方専売局).

Measuring approximately 77 × 53 cm / 30.3 × 20.9 inches, this imposing commercial poster is considerably larger than the standard Japanese B2 format. It retains its period black metal shop-display hanging fittings, an especially desirable survival feature that preserves important evidence of how the poster was originally exhibited.

The design is spectacular: a monumental crimson-red hand holds a plain-ended cigarette and a blue-green packet of HOPE cigarettes against an olive-mustard ground. Its radically simplified forms, asymmetrical composition and limited colour palette make it an outstanding example of early Shōwa-period Japanese commercial modernism.

No date is printed on the sheet. However, historical product records date the original pre-war HOPE cigarette to 1931–1940, making circa 1931–1940 the most accurate date range for this poster. 

The photographs show the exact original poster being offered, including its complete front, original display fittings, edge details, lower imprint and reverse.

Visual Design & Artwork Analysis

• Art Deco-Era Japanese Commercial Modernism:
  The design belongs to the dynamic visual culture that emerged in Japan during the late Taishō and early Shōwa periods. It combines Art Deco geometry, Constructivist-like scale and movement, and the economy of modern poster design. Instead of relying on a conventional figure or detailed narrative illustration, the designer reduces the advertisement to a handful of forceful, instantly recognisable forms.

  Japanese poster design developed rapidly during this period as new printing techniques and exposure to European and international graphic art encouraged the emergence of zuan — modern commercial design. The Japanese government’s Monopoly Bureau actively employed leading designers and commissioned increasingly sophisticated tobacco packages and posters during the 1920s and 1930s.

• The Monumental Red Hand:
  The central image is dominated by an enormous, stylised crimson-red hand, simplified almost to the point of becoming a mechanical or architectural form. The fingers create a sequence of bold vertical elements, while the cigarette crosses them on a sharp diagonal.

  The exaggerated scale of the hand makes the product visible from a distance and gives the composition a remarkably contemporary graphic presence. Even without the lettering, the image communicates the act of holding a cigarette with immediate clarity.

• The HOPE Cigarette Packet:
  The hand grips an illustrated packet bearing the English words “HOPE Cigarettes.” Its blue-green field, cream lettering and repeated linear borders echo the teal typography used elsewhere in the poster, visually unifying the packet with the surrounding advertising copy.

  The cigarette itself is shown as a plain-ended or non-filter cigarette, consistent with the original pre-war HOPE product. It should not be described as lit, as the design shows no ember or rising smoke.

• Exceptional Colour and Composition:
  The designer uses a restricted but highly effective palette of olive-mustard yellow, deep crimson, teal blue-green and warm cream. The large red hand acts as the visual anchor, while the diagonal cigarette and angled HOPE packet create movement across the otherwise flat surface.

  A narrow cream panel and red vertical rule frame the slogan on the right. The resulting combination of strong negative space, oversized imagery and geometric typography is exceptionally bold for a commercial poster approaching ninety years of age.

• Pre-War Right-to-Left Typography:
  Across the bottom, the Japanese word for tobacco, タバコ (tabako), is arranged in the traditional pre-war right-to-left horizontal order and therefore appears on the poster as コバタ.

  This should be understood as a period typographic convention rather than a misspelling. Together with the historical characters used in the issuer’s name and the prominent English-language branding, it is an important element in dating the design to pre-war Japan.

• Poetic Advertising Slogan:
  The vertical text on the right reads:

  紫煙床しき
  Shien yukashiki

  A natural English rendering is:

  “The refined charm of purple smoke”
  or
  “The alluring elegance of tobacco smoke.”

  紫煙 literally means “purple smoke” and was particularly used as a poetic or literary expression for tobacco smoke. 床しき is an older form derived from yukashii, suggesting something refined, evocative, charming or capable of drawing the heart.

• Official Government Attribution:
  The vertical inscription on the lower left reads:

  廣島地方專賣局
  Hiroshima Chihō Senbaikyoku
  Hiroshima Regional Monopoly Bureau

  This identifies the poster as an official product of Japan’s government-controlled tobacco monopoly rather than an advertisement issued by an independent private tobacco company.

• Lower-Right Imprint:
  A small, faded two-line imprint appears near the lower-right edge. Its upper line appears to include マシロヒ, intended to be read from right to left as ヒロシマ — “Hiroshima.”

Historical Context

• The Original Pre-War HOPE Cigarette:
  This poster advertises the first-generation HOPE, a plain-ended cigarette recorded as being sold from 1931 until 1940. It is not an advertisement for the more familiar post-war filter cigarette introduced during the 1950s.
• Dating — c. 1931–1940:
  Because no printed year appears on the poster, it should be catalogued as circa 1931–1940. The presence of the English HOPE branding, the pre-war right-to-left lettering and the Hiroshima Regional Monopoly Bureau inscription are all consistent with that period.

• Wartime Restrictions and the End of the Pre-War Brand:
  In 1940, wartime restrictions on Western terminology led to English and other “foreign-word” cigarette names being changed or withdrawn. JT’s historical chronology records that names such as Golden Bat were converted into Japanese-language forms during this period. Available product records place the discontinuation of the original HOPE in the same year.

• Japan’s Government Tobacco Monopoly:
  Under the Tobacco Monopoly Act of 1904, the Japanese government assumed control over the purchase of tobacco leaf and the manufacture and sale of tobacco products. This system continued through the Ministry of Finance Monopoly Bureau and, after the war, the Japan Monopoly Corporation, before the establishment of Japan Tobacco in 1985.

  The poster is consequently both an advertising object and a document of Japan’s former state-controlled commercial system.

• The Hiroshima Regional Monopoly Bureau:
  Hiroshima’s government tobacco operation developed from a tobacco monopoly office founded in 1897. On 1 July 1921, it became the Hiroshima Regional Monopoly Bureau, a regional division of the Ministry of Finance Monopoly Bureau. Its Hiroshima factory principally manufactured plain-ended cigarettes, directly connecting the issuer named on this poster with the type of cigarette being advertised.

• Original Shop-Display Function:
  The surviving metal hanging hardware indicates that this poster was made for practical commercial display, most probably in a licensed tobacco shop or related retail setting. In the early 1930s, the Monopoly Bureau moved to a direct distribution system and worked with organised tobacco retailers on sales promotion, display equipment and standardised shop presentation.

  Posters of this kind were temporary working advertisements rather than objects intended for long-term preservation. They were exposed to handling, shop interiors, changing campaigns and eventual disposal. This functional origin helps explain why a large, substantially complete survivor retaining its hanging apparatus is exceptionally uncommon today.

• The HOPE Name Still Exists in Japan:
  The HOPE name was revived after the war. In 1957, a new HOPE was introduced as Japan’s first domestically produced filter cigarette. That post-war product was historically distinct from the plain-ended pre-war HOPE represented here.

  HOPE remains part of the official Japan Tobacco product range today, including the classic ten-cigarette HOPE together with HOPE Light and HOPE Super Light. The survival of the name gives this poster additional significance as an exceptionally early representation of one of Japan’s most enduring tobacco names.

• Exceptional Rarity:
  No reliable production quantity or surviving census can be located for this exact Hiroshima-issued design. Its regional government attribution, very large size, ephemeral shop-display purpose and surviving original hanging hardware justify describing it as exceptionally scarce or ultra-rare.

Format & Condition Assessment

• Medium and Dimensions:
  Original multi-colour printed paper advertising poster, approximately 77 × 53 cm / 30.3 × 20.9 inches.
• Original Display Hardware:
  The poster retains its period black metal hanging fittings/banding, used to suspend the advertisement directly for commercial display. The surviving hardware is an important and desirable part of the object’s original history and should preferably be retained during any future conservation or framing.

• Overall Condition — Very Good for Its Age:
  The poster is in Very Good condition for an original pre-war shop-display poster of this size and age, with honest wear associated with prolonged commercial use and storage.

  Crucially, the central graphic remains substantially complete, the HOPE packet and principal lettering remain clearly legible, and there is no major loss through the central hand or principal advertising image.

• Colour Preservation:
  The colours remain highly effective, particularly the deep crimson of the hand and the blue-green of the packet and typography. The restricted palette retains excellent visual coherence and the design remains immediately arresting despite the age-related surface wear.

• Front-Side Condition:
  The front displays general age toning, scattered foxing and dark spotting, surface soiling, handling marks, localised stains, wrinkles and numerous vertical and horizontal creases.

  There are short tears and small areas of splitting around the margins. The most pronounced wear is at the upper-left corner, where the paper has been folded, compressed and torn around the metal hanging fitting. There is also a short tear or puncture at the upper centre beneath the rail, together with wear along the right edge and lower-right margin.

  Additional horizontal fold lines and creases are visible through the lower part of the composition. These do not materially disrupt the monumental red hand or the overall legibility of the design.

• Reverse-Side Condition:
  The reverse shows pronounced overall tanning and oxidation, together with fold lines, surface dirt, localised staining, tide marks, creases and several tears or splits extending inward from the margins.

  Several pieces of archival tape have been applied to areas along the edges as previous reinforcement. 

• Unbacked Presentation:
  The poster appears to remain unbacked, preserving its original paper and reverse. Given the archival tape and vulnerable edge tears, handling should be kept to a minimum until it has been professionally mounted or framed.

• Display Potential:
  Despite the expected wear, this is an extremely impressive image with outstanding decorative presence. The eye is immediately drawn to the red hand, cigarette, HOPE packet and enormous geometric lettering, while the peripheral wear becomes far less prominent when the complete composition is viewed.

  Once sympathetically framed, it will display excellently. A conservation-grade mount, acid-free materials and UV-filtering acrylic would protect the sheet while allowing its extraordinary graphic design to dominate. 

With its monumental modernist design, first-generation pre-war HOPE branding, official Hiroshima government-monopoly attribution and surviving period display fittings, this is a genuinely exceptional piece of Japanese advertising history. It has the presence of a major work of graphic design rather than a conventional commercial poster, and its honest age-related wear records its original working life. Properly mounted and framed, it will make a spectacular and highly distinctive statement piece.