This is an original B2 Japanese poster, printed in 1991, for the release of “Only Yesterday” (おもひでぽろぽろ).

“Only Yesterday” revolves around Taeko, a single woman working a desk job in Tokyo in 1982, taking a vacation in the countryside with the family of her sister-in-law. During her vacation, Taeko finds herself looking back at her time as a young schoolgirl growing up in 1966. The film flips back and forth between the two time periods with a lot of nostalgia and beautiful country scenery as Taeko sorts out her flashbacks and tries to make some tough decisions about her future.

It is based on a manga, “Omohide Poroporo” (1982), by Hotaru Okamoto (story) and Yūko Tone (pictures).

The poster shows the two Taekos holding hands.

According to the book “The Archives of Studio Ghibli, Volume III”, as was the case with “My Neighbour Totoro”, the first poster was made before the film was finished. At the time, the character’s design for student/young Taeko was already drawn, in contrast to her adult version, which was yet to be designed. In fact, fans were quite surprised by the adult Taeko’s design used in the poster, wondering if it wasn’t Ursula (a character from the film “Kiki’s Delivery Service”). Therefore, the adult Taeko’s design used in this poster is not in line with the one used in film.