Twin Peaks Stickers from Japan by Gendai

In 1992, Twin Peaks mania swept Japan with the release of David Lynch’s masterpiece, Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me. I recently acquired a sticker sheet from Japan manufactured by Gendai that was part of promotional products created for the film. These themed stickers include iconography and phrases from Lynch and Mark Frost’s wonderful and strange show and are reminiscent of stickers found in issue 68 of John Thorne and Craig Miller’s “Wrapped in Plastic.” 

TWIN PEAKS STICKERS FROM JAPAN BY GENDAI

Made for Twin Peaks Productions, Inc., this one-sheet of Twin Peaks stickers was produced by Gendai in 1992 for the Japanese market.

I’ve found almost nothing about the company via internet searches. I believe Gendai may have been once known as Gendai Kokokusha, K.K. Founded in 1968, the company specialized in preparing advertising and placing such advertising in periodicals, newspapers, radio and television, and other media outlets. If this was the same company who made the stickers, they changed names in 1995 to Gendai Agency, Inc.

The 8.5-inch by 10-inch sheet contains 21 different stickers with graphics and stylized images from the show. Several graphics were also included in the 1991 book, “Twin Peaks: Access Guide to the Town.”

I love finding ephemera like this in pristine condition more than three decades after the film was released in Japan on May 16, 1992.

The stickers were part of an Ebay auction that included the Japanese souvenir booklet created for the release of Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me. It’s unclear if the sheet was originally included with the booklet or if it was distributed separately that year.

I previously acquired the souvenir booklet via an online auction in 2019 and detailed every page in this Twin Peaks Blog article. But that auction didn’t contain the sticker sheet. Here is a detailed look at each sticker from this one-sheet.

The first sticker includes two snow capped mountains and the phrase, “Welcome to Twin Peaks.” In the fictional town, the two mountains were known as “White Tail Mountain” (or “White Tail Peak”) and “Blue Pine Mountain.”

The Great Northern Hotel logo is featured on the second sticker.

If you look carefully in episode 2.001, you’ll spot a similar logo hanging on the hotel’s wall.

A better look at the hotel logo is found on page 84 of the “Twin Peaks: Access Guide to the Town.”

With a stylized fir tree and silver sword, the Book House Boys logo is found on the third sticker from this set.

In the show, you can see the logo for “The Book House” in episode 2.017. That’s probably why the word “Bookhouse” is two words on the sticker.

A stylized image of chocolate covered doughnut hangs over the words “Twin Peaks” in the fourth sticker.

The sticker looks very similar to the drawing of a doughnut found on page 80 of the “Twin Peaks: Access Guide to the Town.”

The Double R Diner logo is found on the fifth sticker.

The “RR” design looks like the same “RR” logo found on page 82 of the “Twin Peaks: Access Guide to the Town,” except the Rs are not overlapping.

The RR logo is similar to the red neon “RR” found on the exterior sign for the Double R Diner. They are close but not exactly the same design.

Cherry Pie is found on the next sticker along with the words, “Twin Peaks.”

I’m fairly certain that the cherry pie used for the sticker is a stylized version of the real slice of pie found on the cover of the “Twin Peaks: Access Guide to the Town.”

Next  up are stickers of three phrases synonymous with the show – “Welcome to Twin Peaks,” “Fire Walk With Me” and “Who Killed Laura Palmer?”

The “Twin Peaks” logo is then featured in two different fonts.

A sticker featuring a stylized image of Special Agent Dale Cooper holding his tape recorder is seen next to an image of the American Flag flying above the words “Twin Peaks” and “FBI.”

It appears the sticker image of Dale Cooper was based on this publicity photo of Kyle MacLachlan as the iconic F.B.I. Agent.

Along the bottom left side of the page, you’ll find a stylized photo of Laura Palmer wrapped in plastic along with the phrase “Who Killed Laura Palmer?” and the “Twin Peaks” logo.

The image of Laura Palmer is taken from a publicity photo created for the pilot of her dead and wrapped in plastic on the Blue Pine Lodge beach.

Next to the image of Laura Palmer is a sticker featuring Killer Bob with a stylized photo of Frank Silva’s frightening character.

The photo of BOB is from a publicity photo created for the Twin Peaks pilot.

Another sticker with the “Twin Peaks” logo is included on the one-sheet.

The logo is placed next to a sticker that resembles the “Welcome to Twin Peaks” sign. The mountains and “Welcome” logo is similar to the previously featured sticker without the background.

The final “Twin Peaks” logo sticker is placed on the right side of the welcome sign sticker.

A second sticker with the phrase “Who Killed Laura Palmer?” is found under the welcome sign sticker.

The remaining three stickers on the bottom right side of the sheet include an owl drawing with the phrase “Fire Walk With Me” in yellow. The logo is the same font as the previously featured sticker only the design is stacked inside the owl’s body.

I believe the owl silhouette is based on the drawing of the Great Horned Owl found on page 45 of the “Twin Peaks: Access Guide to the Town.”

A bald Eagle and the Federal Bureau of Investigations abbreviation is found on the second to last sticker.

The final sticker is a star shaped badge from the “Twin Peaks Sherif’s [sic] Dept.” Obviously the word “Sheriff” is misspelled on the badge which also contains the two snow-capped mountains found on two different stickers in this set. This badge is never seen in the show.

You can find high-resolution image of these stickers on my Flickr account: https://www.flickr.com/photos/aloha75/albums/72177720330983876