“Kagemusha”, Original Japanese First Release Movie Poster 1980, Akira Kurosawa Artwork, Rare B2 Size (51 × 73 cm) S83

This is an original Japanese B2 theatrical poster printed in 1980 for the first release of Akira Kurosawa’s Kagemusha (影武者 / Shadow Warrior), starring Tatsuya Nakadai, Tsutomu Yamazaki, Kenichi Hagiwara, Jinpachi Nezu, Daisuke Ryū, and Takashi Shimura.

Released theatrically in Japan by Toho on 26 April 1980, Kagemusha marked Kurosawa’s triumphant return to large-scale historical filmmaking and went on to share the Palme d’Or at the 1980 Cannes Film Festival.

What makes this particular Japanese first-release B2 especially important is the artwork: the poster was designed using Akira Kurosawa’s own painting, making it not simply a piece of film advertising but a direct extension of the director’s visual conception of the film. This exact Japanese B2 design is documented with Akira Kurosawa credited as the artist.

Film background

Set during Japan’s turbulent Sengoku period, Kagemusha centres on a petty thief whose extraordinary resemblance to the powerful warlord Takeda Shingen saves him from execution.

When Shingen is mortally wounded, his clan must conceal his death to prevent rival forces from exploiting the resulting weakness. The thief is therefore forced to become the dead lord’s kagemusha—his political and physical “shadow warrior.”

Initially little more than an impersonator, the double gradually becomes absorbed into Shingen’s identity. He learns the warlord’s gestures, family relationships and responsibilities, until the boundary between performance and self begins to disappear.

Through this extraordinary premise, Kurosawa explores identity, political theatre, loyalty, illusion, power and the psychological burden of becoming another person.

At the same time, the film unfolds on an enormous historical scale, filled with cavalry, banners, armour, battle formations and some of the most carefully orchestrated colour imagery of Kurosawa’s career.

Kurosawa’s comeback epic

Kagemusha occupies a particularly important place in Kurosawa’s later career.

After struggling for years to secure financing for major productions, the director received crucial international support from George Lucas and Francis Ford Coppola, whose advocacy helped make the film’s large-scale production possible through 20th Century Fox backing. Cannes describes Lucas and Coppola as having stepped forward to help finance the long-planned epic.

Its success at Cannes reaffirmed Kurosawa’s international stature and paved the way for the even more monumental Ran five years later.

Poster design

This Japanese B2 is one of the most extraordinary designs produced for the film.

Rather than relying on conventional cast photography, the entire image is built around Kurosawa’s own intensely expressionistic artwork.

A colossal blue-black face emerges from violent strokes of turquoise, white, grey and crimson. The eye is sharply defined within an otherwise fractured portrait, giving the figure the appearance of simultaneously materialising and dissolving into the surrounding brushwork.

The paint application is deliberately raw. Heavy black strokes slash across the face and armour, while pale blue lines, rough scumbling and broad areas of red create the impression of a warlord reconstructed from fragments of memory.

Down the right side, the film title appears in enormous red characters:

「影武者」
“Kagemusha / Shadow Warrior”

Alongside it appears:

「黒澤明監督作品」
“A Film Directed by Akira Kurosawa”

The famous circular:

「東宝」
“TOHO”

mark appears at upper right.

At lower right, Kurosawa’s printed English signature is incorporated directly into the artwork, further emphasising that this poster is presenting the director not only as filmmaker but as painter.

The original Eirin registration number 79518 remains visible at lower left.

Akira Kurosawa as artist

Kurosawa’s paintings are an important but sometimes overlooked part of his creative practice.

For films including Kagemusha, Ran and Dreams, he produced extensive colour drawings and paintings to establish compositions, costumes, lighting, movement and atmosphere before filming. Museums have subsequently exhibited these works as significant artworks in their own right.

The Japanese B2 offered here is therefore unusual in the history of movie-poster design: the director himself is also the credited poster artist.

Rather than an advertising department interpreting Kurosawa’s vision, the poster places the viewer directly in front of his own painted imagery.

Condition

Very Good+.

This is a genuine cinema-used example, and the evidence of its working theatrical life remains visible.

There are original very small display pinholes, vintage yellowed tape residue at the corners and edges.

The reverse also shows the expected marks and traces associated with historic mounting and storage.

Importantly, the principal image remains remarkably vivid and powerful. Kurosawa’s blue, black and crimson brushwork retains excellent colour and definition, while the red title characters and printed signature remain strong.

These signs of use provide excellent physical provenance for an authentic 1980 Japanese cinema-displayed poster rather than an unused later copy.

Once professionally framed, this poster will display exceptionally well, while retaining the genuine patina and history of its original theatrical use.

Please review all photographs carefully—they show the exact poster for sale.

This poster is an original Japanese theatrical B2 from the 1980 first-release campaign.
It is not a reproduction or a modern reprint.

It is approximately 46 years old.

Certificate of Authenticity included.