Lot # 1286: 1958 Yomiuri Giants Rare Two-Section Japanese Movie Poster with Sadaharu Oh & Shigeo Nagashima Rookie Season Photographs

From the far side of the planet comes this rare 1958 Yomiuri Giants Japanese language movie poster. This two-section poster measures 20” x 58” overall, with both the top half and the bottom half sized at 20” x 29”. The film this poster promoted was a Toho Studios documentary in honor of the Giants 25th anniversary season. Both sections remain crisp and fairly clean, with vibrant colors and distinct images. Wear is relatively moderate, with the worst of it being a 2” split along the top of vertical fold on the bottom section. An approval date stamped on the back of the bottom section, is reported as translating to the date December 12, 1958, a few weeks ahead of the film’s release on December 28, 1958.

Since their inception in 1934, the Yomiuri Giants have pretty much been Japan’s version of the New York Yankees, having won 31 Japanese Baseball League/Nippon Professional Baseball league championships. The franchise’s most celebrated star, Sadaharu Oh, is pictured in a batting pose on the bottom poster section. Oh was a fresh faced 18-year-old at the time, who had just signed with the Giants in October, two months prior to this film’s release. Technically this Oh photograph is a pre-rookie example, as he hadn't made his pro debut yet. Pictured on the lower panel with Oh are Tetsuharu Kawakami, who had just completed his final season as a player, and fellow rookie Shigeo Nagashima, who would team with Oh through the 1974 season, as the two best hitters in the Nippon Professional Baseball League. Seen on the top section are wizened manager Shigeru Mizuhara and Shigeo Nagashima again. All pictured subjects are enshrined in the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame. It’s likely you’ll never see another one of these movie posters, so go all in and satisfy your yen for sports memorabilia rarities.