“Kagemusha” (影武者), 1980 Japanese 19 × 41 Rare Advance Poster (No‑Signatures Variant; Folded as Issued), Poster Size (c. 48 × 104 cm) O600

This is an original Japanese 19 × 41 inch‑format advance (teaser) poster issued in 1980 for Akira Kurosawa’s Kagemusha (影武者), the celebrated “shadow warrior” epic supported at the international level by Francis Ford Coppola (with George Lucas) as executive producers.

This example is the no‑signatures variant and is folded as originally issued, with fold lines visible.

Film background
In Kagemusha, Kurosawa turns a grand historical canvas into a psychological study of performance as survival—a body double forced to become the symbol that holds a regime together. The film’s reputation rests on that rare Kurosawa combination: intimate human tension inside overwhelming scale.

For collectors, the title also carries the additional weight of its production history—a Kurosawa epic made possible through international champions, with Coppola’s name forever tied to the film as a key supporter of its completion and global presence.

Poster design
This is Kurosawa advertising at its most austere and sophisticated: a single towering silhouette suspended in smoke and light, with the title calligraphy embedded like a shadow within the armor. The layout is almost aggressively minimal—no montage, no spectacle, just the icon of power and the suggestion of a man trapped inside it.

The lone vertical block 「黒澤明監督作品」 functions like a curator’s label: the director’s authorship becomes the selling point, perfectly in line with how Kurosawa was marketed as global cinema royalty by 1980.

Rarity and condition
The 19 × 41 format is notably scarce and far harder to source than standard sizes, produced for theatrical display in comparatively small quantities. This no‑signatures style is still a major rarity in this format, and a superb match for framing because of its clean, architectural composition.

Condition is very good overall, with fold lines from original issue plus normal handling/edge wear and age‑related use (visible in the photos). Not linen‑backed. Please inspect the photos carefully for a detailed view of condition.

It is over 40 years old.
It is not a reproduction or a reprint.
Certificate of Authenticity included.