Japanese Movie Tickets from Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me

When David Lynch’s Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me was released in Japanese movie theatres on May 16, 1992, it quickly became one of must-see movies of the year. As I discussed during a presentation about Twin Peaks and Japan at the Real Twin Peaks event, the movie was booked in more than 100 theatres throughout the country and by mid-June, 450,000 tickets were sold. By the end of the year, Lynch’s masterpiece was a top ten film. So it’s no surprise that I continue finding movie tickets via online auction sites. I adore the designs of each one and will continue adding tickets to this article once acquired for my ever-growing archive.

JAPANESE MOVIE TICKETS FOR TWIN PEAKS: FIRE WALK WITH ME

There are a few different designs of movie ticket stubs from Japan. It seems everything Japan creates is like beautiful works of art. These tickets are no exception.

This ticket comes from May 1992 but the bottom part of the stub is missing. This makes sense since it would have been turned over to the movie theatre in order to see the show. The image of Special Agent Dale Cooper is reversed and the image of Laura Palmer is taken from a publicity photo of her at the Red Diamond City Motel.

You can see part of Ronette’s knee and Teresa Bank’s sweater in the uncropped photo by on-set photographer Lorey Sebastian.

The text next to the image of Laura reads, “Who really killed Laura? Why Laura was killed? The mystery of the most beautiful corpse in the world is unraveled for the first time.” The bottom of the stub reads:

TWIN PEAKS: THE LAST SEVEN DAYS OF LAURA PALMER
Director / Screenplay / David Lynch
Kyle MacLachlan / David Bowie Kiefer Sutherland / Sheryl Lee
Provided by: Japan Herald Movie / Amuse / Pioneer LDC
Distribution: Japan Herald Movie  1992 / American movie

A variation of this ticket is from the Okyama Grand Theatre. This is a “Special Discount Coupon” for a double feature with “The Great Investigation.” There is no film released in 1992 with that title. My gut says it was Eric Till’s To Catch a Killer staring Brian Dennehy. The film was released on May 15, 1992 but unsure if that was the same date in Japan.

The coupon offered a discount for up to five people. Adults were charged 1,700 yen, which was a 200 yen discount. University and high school students were 1,400 yen. Junior high school students were 1,300 yen, a 100 yen discount. Children …. which I ask why are you bringing children to the film? …. were 1,000 yen.

This is a Student / Advance Ticket for the Orion Constellation Theatre. Cost was 1,100 yen for college students. If someone purchased the ticket on the day of the screening, fees would be 1,300 yen. Interestingly, the third bullet point says the “opening and closing dates and times for screenings are yet to be determined, so please contact the theatre for details.” This means the ticket was distributed at some point before the May 15, 1992 release date was finalized.

One of the most interesting tickets is actually a bookmark that must have been distributed in April 1992. The green side advertises “Saint George’s Day” with translation that reads “Give a special gift to someone you care about: April 23rd is Saint Georges’s Day.

Below the crowned sun illustration by Tacasi Ishizu, the translation says, “A message of thanks. I will give you a book / Spring reading week”

Saint George’s Day is the feast day of Saint George, celebrated by Christian churches, countries, regions, and cities of which he is the patron saint. It’s celebrated on April 23, which is considered the date of the saint’s death in the Diocletianic Persecution. It’s odd, however, as I can’t find reference to Japanese traditions tied to this holiday. 

According to the Japan Times, Japan introduced a five-day school week once a month (on the second Saturday) in April 1992. Many schools treated this time as a “reading week” or a time for extracurricular activities, volunteer work, or school shutdowns. Perhaps going to see David Lynch’s new Twin Peaks film was among those activities

This bookmark was basically a coupon that offered a 200 yen discount for adults and 100 yen discount for college, high school and junior high school students. It states the film would be released in mid-May and the voucher was good for a discount of up to two people.

This is how a 1,300 yen ticket appeared for school students.

Similar to the St. George’s Day ticket, this ticket advertised the film being released in May 1992. The back of the ticket contains a listing of movie theatres in various cities throughout Japan including Tokyo, Yokohama, Nagoya, Osaka, Kyoto, Kobe, Fukuoka, and Sapporo. The ticket could also be used at “other theaters nationwide showing ‘Twin Peaks'” not on the list.

This ticket contains two unperforated tickets with images of Special Agent Dale Cooper and Laura Palmer as the Homecoming Queen. It’s strange as both of these images are printed in reverse.

The text above Cooper’s image is roughly translated as, “The Mystery of the World’s Most Beautiful Corpse. For the first time, it will be revealed.” The text above Laura’s photo says, “Who really did kill Laura Palmer?” This language is reminiscent of the Japanese trailer created for the film.

The bottom text is nearly the same as the previous ticket:

TWIN PEAKS: THE LAST SEVEN DAYS OF LAURA PALMER
Director and written by David Lynch
Kyle MacLachlan / David Bowie / Kiefer Sutherland / Sheryl Lee
Provided by: Nippon Herald Movie / Amuse / Pioneer LDC
Distribution: Nippon Herald Movie  / 1992 / American movie

You can see more Japanese ephemera in this Twin Peaks Blog article.