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Auction History Result w001 RASHOMON linen Japanese movie poster '50 Kurosawa, first release! Date Sold 7/10/2007Sold For: Login or Register to see sold price. An Original Vintage Theatrical Linenbacked Japanese Movie Poster (measures 21 3/4" x 30") (Learn More) Rashomon (released in the U.S. in 1952 as "Rasho-mon"), the classic 1950 Akira Kurosawa Japanese murder mystery crime thriller ("Acclaimed the best picture of the year from any country"; "Winner of the grand prize 1951 Venice Film Festival"; "The great and exciting Japanese production which brings a new experience in the cinema."; where a killing is shown from four different points of view, with wildly different versions) starring Toshiro Mifune, Machiko Kyo (billed as "...introducing the beautiful Machiko Kyo"), Masayuki Mori, Takashi Shimura, and Minoru Chiaki NOTE: Click on linked names to see a biography. If you know who did the art (if any), please let us know. Important Added Info: Note that this is a rare "country of origin" poster for this Japanese movie! Note that I have spoken to several of the foremost dealers of non-U.S. posters in the world, and I don't know any of them that has ever seen or heard of an original 1950 release poster from this most classic of Japanese movies! There are many regular printed Japanese posters for U.S. movies from the late 1940s, and it seems that there was a regular distribution system in place right after World War II for U.S. movies, and that standard movie posters were printed for those. But at that time, Japanese filmmaking was being reborn, and it is unclear exactly when regular Japanese movie posters were again made after World War II. It IS clear that around this time, posters like this "Rashomon" poster were created by independent distributors in Japan, and they look similar to this one, with kind of a "silkscreen" look to them, and some people refer to them as "local theater" posters. This poster was purchased many years ago in Japan, from a man who collected Japanese posters, and he told the person he sold it to that it was an EXTREMELY rare poster, and based on my research, I would certainly have to agree with him! If anyone knows of any other examples of this poster, or of any other poster from "Rashomon" that is from the first release, please contact me and I will post it here.
We have received several e-mails from advanced collectors concerning this poster. Most importantly, another example of this poster was auctioned on eBay in 2004, and apparently sold for around $900. Secondly, we have seen images of the first release regular Japanese poster, and at least one advanced collector has that poster in their collection. Third, there is no agreement, even among these advanced collectors as to when this poster is from! They seem to agree that it is a "countryside" poster, for use outside of the big cities. One says it was created before the regular release poster, another says it is from after the movie played in big cities, and another says it could be from several years later, perhaps at the time of the release of The Seven Samurai. Apparently, it mentions an "American night" on the poster. It seems certain that we will not know the full story on this poster prior to the end of the auction, and maybe no one will ever know! Please do not bid on this poster unless you have read all of the above and it can live with the uncertainty as to the origins of this poster. Condition: very good. The poster was folded like a U.S. one-sheet, and there were creases and a few small tears on some foldlines, and some small areas of paper loss at the top and middle crossfolds, with some very tiny areas of paper loss in the vertical foldline in between them. There was slight darkening on the foldlines and some creases and tiny tears in the borders. Overall, the poster was in very good condition prior to linenbacking. The poster was well backed, and looks great! Learn More about condition grades 
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