{"product_id":"tadanori-yokoo-john-silver-continued-japanese-contemporary-art-poster-original-silk-screen-1968-ultra-rare-size-c-72-x-100cm-copy-1","title":"“SHŌJO KAMEN” \u0026 “ARE KARA NO JOHN SILVER” (1971) – ORIGINAL JAPANESE THEATRE POSTER – KUNIYOSHI KANEKO Ultra Rare Oversize | Japanese Angura Theatre | Kuniyoshi Kaneko Artwork | Situation Theater \/ 劇団状況劇場 | HA38 | 76.5 × 106 cm (30.1 × 41.7 in)","description":"\u003cp data-start=\"322\" data-end=\"650\" class=\"PDq2pG_selectionAnchorContainer\"\u003eAn \u003cstrong data-start=\"325\" data-end=\"372\"\u003eultra rare original Japanese theatre poster\u003c\/strong\u003e for the 1971 double-bill production of \u003cstrong data-start=\"412\" data-end=\"427\"\u003eShōjo Kamen\u003c\/strong\u003e (少女仮面 \/ \u003cem data-start=\"436\" data-end=\"447\"\u003eGirl Mask\u003c\/em\u003e) and \u003cstrong data-start=\"453\" data-end=\"480\"\u003eAre kara no John Silver\u003c\/strong\u003e (あれからのジョン・シルバー \/ \u003cem data-start=\"498\" data-end=\"522\"\u003eJohn Silver Since Then\u003c\/em\u003e), staged by \u003cstrong data-start=\"535\" data-end=\"559\"\u003eGekidan Jōkyō Gekijō\u003c\/strong\u003e (劇団状況劇場), the legendary underground theatre troupe founded and led by \u003cstrong data-start=\"630\" data-end=\"643\"\u003eJūrō Kara\u003c\/strong\u003e (唐十郎).\u003cspan aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"PDq2pG_selectionAnchor\"\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"652\" data-end=\"1206\"\u003eThe poster was illustrated and designed by \u003cstrong data-start=\"695\" data-end=\"715\"\u003eKuniyoshi Kaneko\u003c\/strong\u003e (金子國義, 1936–2015), one of Japan’s most distinctive post-war artists. Kaneko’s work is celebrated for its theatrical eroticism, decadent beauty, and strange literary atmosphere—drawing from sources as varied as Lewis Carroll, European Symbolism, the Marquis de Sade, and classical Japanese sensuality. This sheet is a superb example of his mature graphic language: seductive, unsettling, and unmistakably tied to the radical visual culture of Japan’s \u003cstrong data-start=\"1166\" data-end=\"1176\"\u003eAngura\u003c\/strong\u003e underground theatre movement.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"1208\" data-end=\"1554\"\u003e\u003cstrong data-start=\"1208\" data-end=\"1246\"\u003eDate \u0026amp; Japanese Theatrical Context\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr data-start=\"1246\" data-end=\"1249\"\u003eThis poster dates to \u003cstrong data-start=\"1270\" data-end=\"1278\"\u003e1971\u003c\/strong\u003e, during the height of Japan’s post-war underground theatre scene. It advertises performances by \u003cstrong data-start=\"1375\" data-end=\"1399\"\u003eGekidan Jōkyō Gekijō\u003c\/strong\u003e, also known as the \u003cstrong data-start=\"1419\" data-end=\"1440\"\u003eSituation Theater\u003c\/strong\u003e, whose productions were famously staged in a mobile \u003cstrong data-start=\"1493\" data-end=\"1505\"\u003eRed Tent\u003c\/strong\u003e rather than conventional institutional theatres.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"1556\" data-end=\"1847\"\u003eThe bottom schedule panel lists performance dates across \u003cstrong data-start=\"1613\" data-end=\"1657\"\u003eAugust, September, October, and November\u003c\/strong\u003e, together with venue, contact, and ticket information, including the period admission price of \u003cstrong data-start=\"1753\" data-end=\"1761\"\u003e¥600\u003c\/strong\u003e. These practical details anchor the poster firmly in its original theatrical context.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"1849\" data-end=\"2150\"\u003e\u003cstrong data-start=\"1849\" data-end=\"1899\"\u003eThe Production \u0026amp; Its Place in Cultural History\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr data-start=\"1899\" data-end=\"1902\"\u003eThis sheet represents a vital moment in Japanese avant-garde theatre. Under \u003cstrong data-start=\"1978\" data-end=\"1991\"\u003eJūrō Kara\u003c\/strong\u003e, Gekidan Jōkyō Gekijō rejected polite, commercial theatre in favor of itinerant performance, political intensity, myth, eroticism, and street-level spectacle.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"2152\" data-end=\"2537\"\u003eThe two works advertised here—\u003cstrong data-start=\"2182\" data-end=\"2197\"\u003eShōjo Kamen\u003c\/strong\u003e and \u003cstrong data-start=\"2202\" data-end=\"2229\"\u003eAre kara no John Silver\u003c\/strong\u003e—belong to Kara’s charged theatrical universe, where identity, memory, sexuality, and fantasy are staged with startling visual force. Posters for these productions were not merely announcements; they were part of the performance culture itself, operating as public-facing extensions of the plays’ atmosphere.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"2539\" data-end=\"2738\"\u003eOriginal theatre posters from this period are now highly prized because they document a rare convergence of \u003cstrong data-start=\"2647\" data-end=\"2737\"\u003eradical performance, experimental graphic design, and post-war Japanese counterculture\u003c\/strong\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"2740\" data-end=\"2878\"\u003e\u003cstrong data-start=\"2740\" data-end=\"2756\"\u003eDesign Notes\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr data-start=\"2756\" data-end=\"2759\"\u003eThis poster is a striking example of Kaneko’s theatrical imagination and reads powerfully at its large oversize format:\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"2880\" data-end=\"3076\"\u003e\u003cstrong data-start=\"2880\" data-end=\"2910\"\u003eCentral circular vignette:\u003c\/strong\u003e the composition is built around a large tondo-like image set against a deep black field, creating the effect of a private scene viewed through a theatrical aperture.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"3078\" data-end=\"3282\"\u003e\u003cstrong data-start=\"3078\" data-end=\"3104\"\u003eKaneko’s figure style:\u003c\/strong\u003e the intertwined couple displays the artist’s signature traits—pale skin, elongated limbs, dramatic eyes, erotic tension, and an atmosphere suspended between intimacy and unease.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"3284\" data-end=\"3489\"\u003e\u003cstrong data-start=\"3284\" data-end=\"3301\"\u003eBlack ground:\u003c\/strong\u003e the stark black surround intensifies the central image, giving the poster a stage-like presence and allowing the reds, pinks, greens, and flesh tones to register with exceptional clarity.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"3491\" data-end=\"3766\"\u003e\u003cstrong data-start=\"3491\" data-end=\"3515\"\u003eTheatrical placards:\u003c\/strong\u003e the left-side vertical sign reads \u003cstrong data-start=\"3550\" data-end=\"3558\"\u003e少女仮面\u003c\/strong\u003e (\u003cem data-start=\"3560\" data-end=\"3585\"\u003eShōjo Kamen \/ Girl Mask\u003c\/em\u003e), while the right-side panel announces \u003cstrong data-start=\"3625\" data-end=\"3642\"\u003eあれからのジョン・シルバー\u003c\/strong\u003e (\u003cem data-start=\"3644\" data-end=\"3669\"\u003eAre kara no John Silver\u003c\/em\u003e), both designed like fragments of street signage, kabuki playbills, or fairground announcements.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"3768\" data-end=\"3986\"\u003e\u003cstrong data-start=\"3768\" data-end=\"3794\"\u003eSurreal period detail:\u003c\/strong\u003e objects within the image—including printed materials such as \u003cstrong data-start=\"3856\" data-end=\"3866\"\u003e夏休みの宿題\u003c\/strong\u003e (“summer vacation homework”)—add a strange narrative charge, blending childhood, sexuality, nostalgia, and performance.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"3988\" data-end=\"4132\"\u003e\u003cstrong data-start=\"3988\" data-end=\"4007\"\u003ePortrait panel:\u003c\/strong\u003e the right-side military\/sailor-style portrait introduces a cool, almost icon-like counterpoint to the sensual central scene.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"4134\" data-end=\"4320\"\u003e\u003cstrong data-start=\"4134\" data-end=\"4160\"\u003eFooter schedule panel:\u003c\/strong\u003e the dense bottom band of dates, prices, venue information, and theatre details preserves the poster’s original function as a working performance advertisement.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"4322\" data-end=\"4600\"\u003e\u003cstrong data-start=\"4322\" data-end=\"4391\"\u003eThe Oversize Japanese Theatre Format and Why It’s So Hard to Find\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr data-start=\"4391\" data-end=\"4394\"\u003eAt \u003cstrong data-start=\"4397\" data-end=\"4414\"\u003e76.5 × 106 cm\u003c\/strong\u003e, this is a substantial oversize Japanese theatre poster, slightly larger than standard B1 proportions and significantly more imposing than the smaller formats more commonly encountered.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"4602\" data-end=\"4996\"\u003eLarge theatre posters from the Angura period were working street and venue advertisements. They were posted, handled, folded, pinned, pasted, transported, and often discarded after short performance runs. Survival rates are therefore exceptionally low, particularly for posters connected to major underground theatre figures such as \u003cstrong data-start=\"4935\" data-end=\"4948\"\u003eJūrō Kara\u003c\/strong\u003e and major artists such as \u003cstrong data-start=\"4975\" data-end=\"4995\"\u003eKuniyoshi Kaneko\u003c\/strong\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"4998\" data-end=\"5209\"\u003eIn practical collecting terms, this is exactly the kind of object that has become increasingly difficult to source: \u003cstrong data-start=\"5114\" data-end=\"5208\"\u003elarge-format, original, artist-designed Japanese counterculture paper from the early 1970s\u003c\/strong\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"5211\" data-end=\"5498\"\u003e\u003cstrong data-start=\"5211\" data-end=\"5249\"\u003eAbout the Artist: Kuniyoshi Kaneko\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr data-start=\"5249\" data-end=\"5252\"\u003e\u003cstrong data-start=\"5252\" data-end=\"5272\"\u003eKuniyoshi Kaneko\u003c\/strong\u003e occupies a singular position in Japanese post-war art. Painter, illustrator, photographer, and designer, he developed a world of beautiful, troubling figures—often androgynous, erotic, theatrical, and psychologically charged.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"5500\" data-end=\"5776\"\u003eHis imagery frequently fuses European literary decadence with Japanese theatricality. The result is neither purely Western nor traditionally Japanese, but something more unstable and compelling: a private visual mythology of masks, desire, childhood, costume, and performance.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"5778\" data-end=\"6066\"\u003eThis poster is especially important because it shows Kaneko working in dialogue with live theatre. Rather than functioning as a decorative commercial image, the design becomes an extension of the production’s emotional register—\u003cstrong data-start=\"6006\" data-end=\"6065\"\u003eintimate, transgressive, dreamlike, and confrontational\u003c\/strong\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"6068\" data-end=\"6452\"\u003e\u003cstrong data-start=\"6068\" data-end=\"6118\"\u003eArtists, Theatre Posters \u0026amp; the Angura Movement\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr data-start=\"6118\" data-end=\"6121\"\u003eDuring the 1960s and 1970s, Japan’s underground theatre scene produced some of the most adventurous graphic design of the post-war period. Directors such as \u003cstrong data-start=\"6278\" data-end=\"6291\"\u003eJūrō Kara\u003c\/strong\u003e and \u003cstrong data-start=\"6296\" data-end=\"6314\"\u003eShūji Terayama\u003c\/strong\u003e collaborated with major artists and designers including \u003cstrong data-start=\"6371\" data-end=\"6389\"\u003eTadanori Yokoo\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003cstrong data-start=\"6391\" data-end=\"6406\"\u003eAquirax Uno\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003cstrong data-start=\"6408\" data-end=\"6425\"\u003eKiyoshi Awazu\u003c\/strong\u003e, and \u003cstrong data-start=\"6431\" data-end=\"6451\"\u003eKuniyoshi Kaneko\u003c\/strong\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"6454\" data-end=\"6734\"\u003eThese posters were treated not simply as advertising, but as \u003cstrong data-start=\"6515\" data-end=\"6550\"\u003eindependent works of visual art\u003c\/strong\u003e. They blended pop art, psychedelia, erotic illustration, Meiji and Taishō-era typography, ukiyo-e references, shunga-like sensuality, political provocation, and street theatre energy.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"6736\" data-end=\"7074\"\u003eBy appearing in public spaces—on walls, streets, theatre sites, and urban noticeboards—these works brought avant-garde art directly into the city. Today, original Angura theatre posters are recognized as major documents of Japanese graphic culture and as some of the most visually daring theatrical posters produced anywhere in the world.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"7076\" data-end=\"7355\"\u003e\u003cstrong data-start=\"7076\" data-end=\"7096\"\u003eCondition Report\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr data-start=\"7096\" data-end=\"7099\"\u003e\u003cstrong data-start=\"7099\" data-end=\"7135\"\u003eOverall presentation: Excellent.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr data-start=\"7135\" data-end=\"7138\"\u003eA highly impressive original example with strong visual impact, rich blacks, vivid reds, and excellent preservation of Kaneko’s central illustration. The sheet presents beautifully, with no major display distractions.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"7357\" data-end=\"7485\"\u003e\u003cstrong data-start=\"7357\" data-end=\"7367\"\u003eFront:\u003c\/strong\u003e excellent overall display quality, with strong color saturation, crisp typography, and a clean, dramatic black field.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"7487\" data-end=\"7623\"\u003e\u003cstrong data-start=\"7487\" data-end=\"7499\"\u003eReverse:\u003c\/strong\u003e generally clean for age, with light toning, faint handling evidence, and minor age-related marks visible on the blank back.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"7625\" data-end=\"7834\"\u003e\u003cstrong data-start=\"7625\" data-end=\"7648\"\u003eMinor signs of use:\u003c\/strong\u003e light edge and corner handling, faint surface waviness, small handling marks, and minor age-related surface impressions consistent with storage and use of a large-format theatre poster.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"7836\" data-end=\"7919\"\u003e\u003cstrong data-start=\"7836\" data-end=\"7851\"\u003eUnrestored:\u003c\/strong\u003e no linen backing, no touch-ups, and no conservation work performed.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"7921\" data-end=\"8020\" data-is-last-node=\"\" data-is-only-node=\"\"\u003e\u003cstrong data-start=\"7921\" data-end=\"7938\"\u003eAuthenticity:\u003c\/strong\u003e \u003cstrong data-start=\"7939\" data-end=\"8020\" data-is-last-node=\"\"\u003eOriginal 1971 Japanese theatre poster — not a reproduction or modern reprint.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Japan Poster Shop","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57035087937914,"sku":null,"price":895.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0424\/8859\/4591\/files\/living-area-with-a-chair-and-round-tables_a1ad2636-2c54-4f0e-9207-1c36d8ca48e1.jpg?v=1782953547","url":"https:\/\/japanposter.co.uk\/products\/tadanori-yokoo-john-silver-continued-japanese-contemporary-art-poster-original-silk-screen-1968-ultra-rare-size-c-72-x-100cm-copy-1","provider":"Japan Poster Shop","version":"1.0","type":"link"}