The original theatrical pamphlet dates back to 1916. At that time, with the growing popularity of movie theaters, each theater created a 4- to 12-page booklet for the purpose of advertising the next week's movie program. In fact, “movie program” was the name by which theatrical pamphlets were called at the time. As World War II began, the country gradually became short of paper stocks, and paper continued to be scarce even after the war ended. It became difficult for each theater to distribute the pamphlets (movie programs) for free of charge. So they started to charge money for the pamphlets. This change gradually led to the production of pamphlets that focused more on individual films, rather than promotional brochures.

On March 25, 1947, when the Subaru-za theater presented the roadshow of “Rhapsody in Blue”, they produced and sold a pamphlet solely for the film – and that was the birth of the theatrical pamphlet. Interestingly, the first paid pamphlet focusing on a single film was not a Japanese film, but a foreign film.

In the old days, people had few ways to recall and re-experience a movie. There were of course no DVDs or streaming of any kind. The only way for fans to experience the movies they had seen again was with theatrical pamphlets, and the pamphlet culture gradually spread.

In the 1970s and 1980s, as the theatrical pamphlets became more and more popular, the size became more consistent (A4 size) and so did the design and contents. The number of pages was also mostly 24 pages, and thus enjoyed the benefit of being “easy to collect” by cinefiles. From around 2000, the development and convenience of computer software led to an increase in design variation, and in the past 10 years, we have seen many innovative and unique designs in the pamphlets.

Since then, there have been concerns that theatrical pamphlets would disappear with the spread of the Internet. However, the pamphlet culture continues to take firm root in Japan, still supported by loyal fans. The love and appreciation for the pamphlet culture can be seen in several blogs that give annual awards to "Best Movie Pamphlet of the Year".

Yet it is also true that the popularity of theatrical pamphlets is slowly fading as our ways to experience films are constantly changing.

Here at SAKKA, our hope is that these theatrical pamphlets, which is a work of art itself separate from the film, will reach more people and film fans in the world. Enjoy this unique culture of Japan, and hold the cinema experience in your hand!