From the late 1950s up until 1967, Seijun Suzuki (b.1923) directed run-of-the-mill genre films for the Japanese Nikkatsu Studios. During this period he made some 40 pictures and developed a reputation as a unique and disruptive voice in Japanese cinema. In the 1960s, he used themes of ultra-violence that centred on the illicit activities of the Japanese mafia - the so-called Yakuza. He also directed sado-masochistic soft-core sex films, called 'pinku eiga'. Throughout his career at Nikkatsu, Suzuki asserted his uniqueness. Such individualism led to Tokyo Drifter being censured by studio heads in 1966. But Suzuki stuck to his guns and made a final film with Nikkatsu the following year. Branded To Kill was a rococo, nihilistic and absurdly bizarre creation. It resulted in his dismissal from the studio and provoked widespread condemnation from the Japanese film industry. For the next ten years, Suzuki was forced to limit his filmmaking activities to television. But by the 1980s, Japanese film studios were adopting a more liberal approach and the risks Suzuki had taken finally paid off. Once again able to make cinematic productions, Suzuki emerged as an internationally renowned director, picking up awards around the globe.

Deemed a renegade director in his own country, Suzuki's films enjoyed only moderate success at the time of their initial release. As a result, very few original Japanese posters were printed for his films. Ironically, those that have survived have become highly prized by Japanese collectors today.