“Wasabi” (ワサビ), Original Release Japanese Movie Poster 2002, B2 Size (51 × 73 cm) ZA342

This is an original Japanese B2 poster printed in 2002 for the first Japanese theatrical release of Wasabi, the Franco‑Japanese action comedy directed by Gérard Krawczyk and written and produced by Luc Besson. Co‑produced with Victor Company of Japan (JVC), the film stars Jean Reno as a tough French cop who travels to Tokyo and discovers he has a teenage daughter, played by Ryoko Hirosue. 

Film background
Wasabi follows veteran Paris detective Hubert Fiorentini, whose ultra‑violent methods get him forcibly sent on “vacation” to Japan after the death of a former lover. There he learns she has left him a daughter he never knew about—and a suitcase full of yakuza trouble. Balancing slapstick, fish‑out‑of‑water comedy and bursts of brutal action, the film doubles as a glossy early‑2000s travelogue of Tokyo nightlife, shot partly in collaboration with Japanese partners. 

Poster design
The Japanese B2 goes for bold, graphic simplicity. The sheet is divided horizontally in a warm‑to‑cool gradient, fading from pale cream at the top to deep plum at the bottom. At the centre, Jean Reno and Ryoko Hirosue appear in profile, back‑to‑back and tinted in contrasting monochrome—Reno in fiery red, Hirosue in cool violet—capturing the generational and cultural tension at the heart of the story. A slim vertical column of red Japanese text runs between them, while the huge white “WASABI” logotype anchors the lower half, with the stars’ names and credits in smaller English and Japanese above. It’s a sophisticated, modern layout that feels very much of its early‑2000s moment.

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

It is over 23 years old.

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