Charlie asked me for some recommendations on Japanese poster books, so here we go:
1. This is a series of books about Japanese chirashi, covering them in chronological order since after the war. While not about posters, the chirashi help you understand if and when a certain movie was released or re-released. Not all films had chirashi printed and not all chirashi that were printed are in these books, but at least it's a good start. And in quite a few cases the chirashi also have the same artwork as the B2.
2. For those who (like myself) mostly collect horror and sleaze, this is the book to get. It features tons of images on almost every (non-Japanese) horror film ever released in Japan. It's not only about posters, but also shows pamphlets, chirashi and tickets. Some rare posters are featured in this book.
3. From the same publisher as the book on horror above, but this time covering sci fi movies.
4. A famous collector published two excellent books about rare horror and sci fi movie posters from his collection. There are a lot of images in these books that are not shown anywhere else.
5. This book is only about Japanese horror and sci fi movies. It is pretty comprehensive and covers everything from the Godzilla movies to Shintoho trash horror films etc.
6. All about the James Bond releases in Japan. Features all posters, tatekans, programs etc.
7. Same as the James Bond book, but focussing on Audrey Hepburn's films.
8. This is a book about Toei Studio's Pink Violence movies and it has two colour sections with poster and lobby card images for most films. Well-worth getting for anyone interested in the genre.
9. An excellent book with images for almost every mondo movie ever released in Japan.
With the exception of the Pink Violence book, most of these are unfortunately either out of print or cannot be ordered through the regular book channels as they were published by collectors and don't have an ISBN number. I have however a couple of the books I mention under 4., which I bought directly from the guy who published them (the last ones he had). If anyone is interested, PM me.
Armin
