“The Night of the Seagull” (砂の香り / Suna no kaori), Original Japanese Release Movie Poster 1968, B2 Size (51 × 73 cm) P223

This is an original Japanese B2 poster printed in 1968 for the first Japanese theatrical release of The Night of the Seagull (砂の香り / Suna no kaori), a Toho colour drama directed by Katsumi Iwauchi and starring Mie Hama and Jin Nakayama. The film opened in Japan on 23 October 1968 and runs 90 minutes.

Film background
Based on Matsutarō Kawaguchi’s original story Ningyo (“Mermaid”), the film follows a former university swimmer recuperating by the seaside who becomes involved with a mysterious woman, only to discover that she is entangled in a far darker private life and is standing trial over the death of her husband’s mistress. Japanese reference sources credit the screenplay to Mitsuru Majima and Katsumi Iwauchi, with cinematography by Asakazu Nakai; contemporary materials present it as a serious romantic drama with a charged, adult melodramatic edge rather than a conventional youth picture.

Poster design
A magnificent and highly atmospheric Japanese design built around an enormous close-up of Mie Hama, her face filling the sheet in windswept crimson tones that give the poster a sensual, feverish intensity. The title 砂の香り is slashed across the centre in jagged yellow calligraphy, while the shadowed male portrait below and the small full-length figure of Hama at right create a sense of mystery and emotional distance. It is an exceptionally strong late-1960s Toho design—bold, stylish, and unmistakably cinematic, with superb wall presence.

Condition
Excellent. Please review the photos—they show the exact poster for sale.

It is over 57 years old!
It is not a reproduction or a reprint.
Certificate of Authenticity included.