“Grave of the Fireflies” (火垂るの墓), Rare Original Japanese DVD Promotional Poster 2000, Studio Ghibli / Isao Takahata, B2 Size (51 × 73 cm) S288

This is an original Japanese B2 promotional poster produced in 2000 for the first Japanese DVD release of Studio Ghibli’s Grave of the Fireflies (火垂るの墓 / Hotaru no Haka), written and directed by Isao Takahata and adapted from the semi-autobiographical short story by Akiyuki Nosaka.

The poster was created for the Warner Home Video “New Master” DVD campaign, with the original release issued in Japan on 16 December 2000 at a price of ¥2,980 before tax. The wording printed directly across the lower section reads:

「DVDにて絶賛好評発売中！」
— “Now available on DVD to great acclaim!”

and:

「ニューマスター版で登場 2,980円（税抜き）」
— “Now available in a New Master edition — ¥2,980 before tax.”

This makes the poster a distinct piece of official Japanese home-video promotional material, rather than a theatrical re-release poster. Warner Home Video issued the film’s first Japanese DVD in 2000; later DVD editions followed before the rights moved to the Studio Ghibli / Disney home-video line.

Film background

Originally released theatrically in Japan in 1988, Grave of the Fireflies follows teenage Seita and his young sister Setsuko as they struggle to survive in the closing months of the Second World War after air raids devastate their home in Kobe.

Takahata adapted the film from Akiyuki Nosaka’s 1967 short story, itself rooted in the author’s wartime experiences and the death of his younger sister.

Rather than approaching war through battle scenes or military heroism, the film remains almost entirely with the children, observing the consequences of bombing, hunger, displacement and the gradual collapse of the social structures around them.

The production brought together an exceptional creative team, including character designer and animation director Yoshifumi Kondō, art director Nizō Yamamoto, colour designer Michiyo Yasuda, and composer Michio Mamiya.

Poster design

The design uses one of the film’s most tender and visually memorable sequences.

Against an almost completely dark summer night, Seita and Setsuko sit together on a simple wooden bench surrounded by glowing fireflies.

Seita gently holds one of the insects toward Setsuko, whose face and hands are illuminated by its warm yellow light.

The surrounding landscape is rendered in deep navy, violet and blue-black tones, while dozens of individual fireflies punctuate the darkness like tiny stars.

This extreme contrast between the black night and small points of golden light gives the poster an unusually quiet emotional power.

There is no montage, no conventional cast imagery and almost no commercial visual clutter across the main field.

Instead, the image is allowed to carry the emotional weight of the campaign.

“Every time summer comes…”

Running vertically through the centre is the campaign line:

「夏がくるたび、思い出してください。」

— “Every time summer comes, please remember.”

It is an exceptionally appropriate line for the film.

Summer in Japan is inseparable from both the memory of the end of the Pacific War and the annual period of remembrance surrounding August, while fireflies themselves carry strong cultural associations with transience and impermanence.

The copy transforms the DVD campaign from a straightforward product advertisement into something closer to an invitation to remember the film—and the lives it represents—again and again.

The title

At the bottom appears the Japanese title:

火垂るの墓
ほたるのはか

in vivid red typography against a clean cream field.

Takahata and Nosaka’s title famously uses the unusual characters 火垂る rather than the standard 蛍 for hotaru (“firefly”).

The unconventional spelling gives the title a deliberately poetic quality, visually combining the idea of fire with something that falls or hangs down.

That association takes on additional resonance within a film in which the soft light of fireflies repeatedly sits beside imagery and memories of wartime fire.

Home-video campaign details

The upper corners contain the Warner Home Video and DVD Video marks, clearly establishing the poster’s purpose as an official retail promotional sheet.

The lower-right corner reproduces the corresponding DVD package, while the surrounding copy advertises both the film and the original Shinchosha publication.

The campaign specifically promotes the “New Master” DVD edition, priced at ¥2,980 before tax.

This was the film’s first Japanese DVD release, making the poster an interesting document from the transition between the VHS / LaserDisc era and DVD becoming the dominant home-video format in Japan.

Rarity

Unlike theatrical posters intended to advertise a cinema run, this sheet was produced for retail and video-store display during the DVD sales window.

Such promotional posters were temporary working advertising material: once a release was no longer new, displays were changed and the paper was typically removed.

Surviving original B2 promotional material from the early Japanese Studio Ghibli DVD era is consequently much less commonly encountered than mass-market consumer packaging.

The combination of official 2000 Warner Home Video provenance, first Japanese DVD campaign, Studio Ghibli imagery and one of the film’s most emotionally resonant scenes makes this a particularly compelling piece for collectors of Ghibli and Japanese animation ephemera.

Condition

Very Good+ / Excellent original condition overall.

The poster retains deep, rich night-time colours, strong contrast and particularly vivid yellow illumination across the fireflies. The central image of Seita and Setsuko remains crisp and highly attractive, while the red title typography is bright and clean.

There are light signs of age and handling, including minor surface impressions and modest edge wear consistent with an original retail promotional poster from 2000.

Please review the photograph carefully; it shows the exact poster for sale.

This is an original Japanese B2 promotional poster from the film’s first Japanese DVD campaign in 2000.

It is not a reproduction or a modern reprint.

It is approximately 26 years old.

Certificate of Authenticity included.

Code: S288