This is an original Japanese B2 theatrical poster printed in 1972 for the first release of Wandering Ginza Butterfly (Ginchō Wataridori), directed by Kazuhiko Yamaguchi and starring Meiko Kaji, Tatsuo Umemiya, and Tsunehiko Watase. The film is one of the key early titles in Kaji’s 1970s career and is often regarded as the picture that firmly established her new outlaw screen persona at Toei after leaving Nikkatsu.
Film background
Released in 1972, Wandering Ginza Butterfly sits at an important turning point in Japanese genre cinema. The film blends yakuza melodrama, urban action, and female-outlaw imagery into a harder-edged star vehicle for Meiko Kaji, who would soon go on to define the era through titles such as Female Prisoner Scorpion and Lady Snowblood. Here she plays Nami, a former billiard hustler and ex-convict trying to live straight in Tokyo, only to find herself drawn back into violence, loyalty, and underworld codes.
What makes the film especially interesting is its tone. Compared with the more overtly stylised revenge fantasies that followed, this is a more grounded and contemporary crime picture, rooted in the transitional mood of early-1970s Japan. That gives the poster additional importance: it belongs to the moment when Kaji’s image was being reshaped into one of the great female icons of Japanese cult cinema.
Poster design
This is a superb and highly collectible design. Meiko Kaji dominates the composition in a large, coolly intense close-up at centre, while supporting images of Tatsuo Umemiya at upper left and Tsunehiko Watase at upper right frame her within a world of urban danger and betrayal. The lower-right inset scene of swordplay adds a burst of action, while the night street running through the centre background gives the whole poster an unmistakable noir atmosphere.
The title treatment is especially strong: the large vertical pink brush-style 銀蝶渡り鳥 lettering is one of the defining visual features of the sheet. Combined with the pale ground and sharply contrasted photographic montage, it creates exactly the kind of graphic force collectors look for in great early-1970s Toei poster design.
For Meiko Kaji collectors, this is a particularly important poster because it captures her at the beginning of the screen identity that would make her a legend.
Condition
Excellent. Please review the photos—they show the exact poster for sale.
It is over 54 years old!
It is not a reproduction or a reprint.
Certificate of Authenticity included.
