“Sanjuro” (椿三十郎), Original Japanese Re-Release “New Print” Movie Poster 1969, Akira Kurosawa / Toshiro Mifune, B2 Size (c. 51 × 73 cm) I137

This is an original Japanese B2 theatrical re-release poster printed in 1969 for Akira Kurosawa’s Sanjuro (椿三十郎), originally released in 1962 and starring Toshiro Mifune in one of his most celebrated samurai performances.

Importantly, this is not a poster from the film’s original 1962 premiere campaign. The poster itself explicitly identifies the presentation as:

〈ニュー・プリント〉
“New Print”

and carries the period Toho markings at the lower edge, identifying it as an original Japanese theatrical revival issue produced for a new-print presentation of the film.

Written by Akira Kurosawa, Ryuzo Kikushima and Hideo Oguni, from a story by Shugoro Yamamoto, Sanjuro reunited Kurosawa and Mifune immediately after the international success of Yojimbo, developing Mifune’s wandering ronin into a more humorous, sardonic and unexpectedly humane figure.

Poster design

This is an exceptionally strong Japan-market photographic montage, dominated by an enormous close-up of Toshiro Mifune as Sanjuro.

Mifune’s face fills almost the entire upper two-thirds of the sheet. Unshaven, exhausted and intensely watchful, the portrait captures the combination of toughness, intelligence and irreverence that defines the character.

Rather than presenting Sanjuro as an idealised heroic samurai, the image emphasises his roughness and physical presence: dishevelled hair, stubble and a weathered expression that immediately separates him from the formally dressed retainers surrounding him.

Across the centre, in huge expressive red brush lettering, appears:

椿三十郎

— Sanjuro.

The title cuts forcefully across the photographic imagery, its saturated vermilion-red standing in dramatic contrast to the otherwise restrained sepia, black, grey and cream palette.

At left appears:

黒澤明監督作品

— “A film directed by Akira Kurosawa.”

Behind the title are monochrome action images of drawn swords and charging samurai, while the lower portion introduces several of the film’s principal characters in full-length photographic cut-outs.

The result is both unusually sophisticated and highly energetic: the enormous contemplative portrait above is counterbalanced by movement, swordplay and confrontation below.

A subtle printed musical-staff motif runs along the upper and lower margins, adding another distinctive graphic element to the composition.

Japanese campaign copy

The copy at upper left begins:

「ご存じ三十郎」

— approximately:

“The Sanjuro you know is back.”

It continues by emphasising the film’s combination of entertainment, extraordinary swordsmanship and the famous sudden-draw confrontation that astonished audiences.

The campaign therefore treats the character almost as an established screen icon—appropriate for a revival following the enormous impact of both Yojimbo and Sanjuro.

On the right, the vertical designation:

黒澤明監督作品
〈ニュー・プリント〉

makes the nature of this specific theatrical campaign particularly clear: this was a newly struck print being returned to Japanese cinemas, rather than a later home-video or commemorative issue.

Film background

The story begins when nine idealistic young samurai become convinced that corruption has infected their clan.

Their well-intentioned plotting is overheard by a scruffy ronin who initially appears indifferent to their predicament. Recognising that the young men have badly misjudged the political situation, he reluctantly intervenes and prevents them from walking directly into a trap.

Asked his name, the wandering warrior looks outside, notices the camellias, and casually calls himself:

Tsubaki Sanjuro — “thirty-year-old camellia.”

Mifune’s Sanjuro becomes an unwilling mentor to the earnest young samurai, repeatedly exposing the difference between romantic ideas of honour and the practical realities of violence, politics and survival.

Opposing him is Tatsuya Nakadai as Muroto Hanbei, one of the most formidable adversaries in Kurosawa’s samurai cinema.

The cast also includes Keiju Kobayashi, Yuzo Kayama, Reiko Dan, Takashi Shimura, Kamatari Fujiwara, Takako Irie and Masao Shimizu.

The final duel

The film culminates in one of the most famous confrontations in Japanese cinema.

Sanjuro and Hanbei stand almost motionless opposite one another, each waiting for the smallest opening.

The confrontation lasts only moments once movement begins, but Kurosawa’s staging—silence, stillness and an extraordinarily sudden burst of violence—became one of the defining images of the samurai genre.

The sequence was profoundly influential, helping establish the grammar of the instantaneous final duel subsequently echoed throughout chambara cinema, spaghetti westerns and international action filmmaking.

What makes Sanjuro particularly distinctive, however, is Kurosawa’s treatment of the violence itself. Sanjuro repeatedly criticises the younger samurai’s obsession with swords and heroism, famously suggesting that the best sword is one kept in its sheath.

The extraordinary final confrontation therefore functions not simply as spectacle, but as the brutal culmination of the film’s critique of romanticised violence.

Kurosawa and Mifune

Sanjuro belongs to the extraordinary creative partnership between Akira Kurosawa and Toshiro Mifune, one of the defining director-actor collaborations in world cinema.

Mifune’s performance extends the character type established in Yojimbo: an apparently uncouth wandering swordsman whose laziness and cynicism conceal both exceptional intelligence and an underlying moral code.

The performance is simultaneously comic, physical, dangerous and deeply controlled, while Kurosawa surrounds Mifune with an ensemble of rigid, comparatively inexperienced young samurai whose formality makes Sanjuro appear even more unpredictable.

The result remains one of the most entertaining and accessible films in Kurosawa’s career.

1969 “New Print” significance

This poster is particularly interesting because it documents the film’s continued theatrical life after its original 1962 release.

Rather than reproducing a modern retrospective image, the campaign was created while Kurosawa and Mifune remained towering contemporary figures in Japanese cinema.

The explicit:

〈ニュー・プリント〉

designation is therefore an important part of the poster’s history.

It identifies this as genuine period theatrical advertising for a new-print Japanese revival, preserving the visual language through which Toho reintroduced one of Kurosawa’s major works to cinema audiences during the late 1960s.

It is now approximately 57 years old.

The B2 format

The Japanese B2 measures approximately 51.5 × 72.8 cm, the principal poster format used throughout Japanese theatrical exhibition.

The size works particularly well with this composition. Mifune’s enormous face has genuine physical presence, while the vigorous red 椿三十郎 calligraphy cuts dramatically through the lower photographic montage.

For collectors of Kurosawa and Mifune, period Japanese revival material is especially appealing because it sits between the scarce original-release paper and much later anniversary reproductions: it remains authentic vintage theatrical advertising produced during the classic era of Japanese cinema.

Condition

Excellent condition overall.

This is a particularly attractive surviving example with strong photographic definition, beautifully preserved sepia tones and exceptionally vivid red title lettering.

The principal image of Mifune remains crisp and visually commanding, while the supporting photographic montage, green cast typography and fine printed details remain clear and well preserved.

There is only light age-related handling, subtle surface character and very minor edge / corner wear visible on close inspection, entirely consistent with an original Japanese theatrical poster from 1969.

At full B2 scale, the enormous Mifune portrait and red calligraphic title have exceptional presence, and once professionally framed it will display superbly.

Please review all photographs carefully; they show the exact poster for sale, front, reverse and detailed areas.

This is an original Japanese B2 theatrical “New Print” re-release poster from 1969.
It is not a reproduction or modern reprint.

It is approximately 57 years old.

Certificate of Authenticity included.