“Ojuken / The Exam” (お受験 OJUKEN), Original Release Japanese Movie Poster 1999, B2 Size (51 × 73 cm) O529

This is an original Japanese B2 poster printed in 1999 for the first Japanese theatrical release of Ojuken (お受験 OJUKEN), internationally known as The Exam, directed by Yôjirô Takita and distributed in Japan by Shochiku. The film marked rock legend Eikichi Yazawa’s first starring role in a feature and was written by screenwriter Nobuyuki Isshiki. 

Film background
Ojuken is a warm but pointed family comedy‑drama about contemporary “exam hell.” Former star corporate marathon runner Masumi Togashi now finds himself a tired mid‑career salaryman whose life is upended when his company quietly uses a transfer to push him into redundancy. At the very same time, his wife becomes obsessed with getting their young daughter into an elite private elementary school, convinced that the father’s job status and the family’s image will make or break her chances. Losing his position, Masumi reluctantly becomes a stay‑at‑home dad and throws himself into one last goal: training for the Shonan Marathon, the race where he once shone, even though it falls on the exact day of his daughter’s crucial entrance exam. The film follows his attempt to juggle parental duty, personal pride and mid‑life reinvention, blending social satire with genuinely heartfelt moments. 

Poster design
The B2 design is both strikingly simple and instantly evocative for anyone who has walked through Osaka. Dominating the sheet is a bold, flat graphic of a runner breaking the tape, arms flung wide in victory, set against an orange sunburst circle with radiating rays. The pose and radiating background unmistakably echo the famous Glico Running Man billboard in Dōtonbori—an Osaka landmark since the 1930s and one of Japan’s most recognisable advertising images. While the Ojuken runner isn’t literally the Glico mascot (the original Glico design was based on a composite of several athletes rather than a single model), the poster clearly riffs on that visual language to suggest achievement, energy and a uniquely Kansai flavour. 

Beneath the stylised figure, a small black‑and‑white family portrait grounds the concept in the film’s everyday reality: Yazawa’s character stands in running kit and race bib beside his suit‑clad wife and uniformed daughter, seated formally on an ornate chair, like a studio photograph for a school prospectus. The right side carries a vertical red tagline that reads 「お父さんは、一等賞です。」 (“Dad is first prize”), cleverly tying marathon victory to paternal devotion. The film’s title 「お受験」 is printed in large red characters across the bottom, with slim cast and staff credits running down the left margin, keeping the overall composition clean, graphic and memorable—an elegant piece that simultaneously parodies and celebrates the pressure‑cooker world of Japanese entrance exams.

This poster is in excellent condition (please refer to the imagery of the exact poster for sale).

It is over 26 years old.

It is not a reproduction or a reprint.
Certificate of Authenticity included.