1. They've got their own exclusive trailer!
You might have seen the movie's trailer already (How could you not!!), but did you know that there’s an alternate trailer released just for the Japanese market? If that doesn’t show how strong the force is in Japan, we don’t know what does! We’ll be honest, this trailer gave us goosebumps! We haven’t been more excited to catch the new Star Wars movie since…we saw Episode IV-VI! (Can’t say since they came out…we weren’t even born yet ?) Let’s face it, the prequels left much to be desired for hard core fans, right?2. You can fly off into the Tatooine sunset...
Always dreamed of speeding away on a pod racer or being on board the Millennium Falcon? Okay, so maybe you can’t exactly, but you can hitch a ride on Japan’s All Nippon Airways flight instead! Their R2-D2™ Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner has begun flying passengers from Japan to Canada, USA, and Belgium, with the route to Australia following soon. Two more designs will be up in the skies by 2016, featuring BB-8™ and another Star Wars themed design. More information on the planes and the routes that it flies can be found at their dedicated ANA Star Wars Project site.3. ...and feel the light of the force
For the first time ever, Star Wars became the first foreign pop-culture franchise to make its way into 2015’s legendary Aomori Nebuta Festival which is held every summer in the Aomori Prefecture. The festival is famous for it’s gigantic papier-mâché lanterns, usually featuring historic figures and samurai warriors.
4. Put your shields up!
If planes and paddy fields weren’t enough, Disney has also teamed up with the monks of Kiyomizu Temple in Kyoto to reproduce a special Star Wars version of the iconic Wind God and Thunder God screens by artist Tawaraya Sotatsu. Here's the original screens...
5. We can't get enough of these super cool merchandise!
As you would expect, Japan-centric Star Wars merchandise has infiltrated the country at all levels – from toy stores to neighbourhood 7-Eleven’s. There are so many awesome ones that’s unique to Japan, it was hard for us to pick our favourites! Here are our top picks!Kylo Ren chopsticks…there’s a disturbance in the forks!
Dance along to the Star Wars theme!
Use the force and make Storm Troopers or Boba Fett dance with the Star Wars Space Opera figures, which are part of the Takara Tomy Pop'n Step Series. Buy a boatload and make them all dance to the theme song like this! (TOO CUTE!)You can purchase these guys here, for USD 54.
You can't top Samurai Darth Vader and his Storm Troopers!
Combine Darth Vader's powers and the mad skills of ancient Japanese samurai and we think you'll get the perfect fusion of a virtually unstoppable baddie! Seriously though, how awesome is this "Star Wars Movie Realization Samurai Taisho Darth Vader" by Japan's toy producers Bandai?
Last but definitely not the least, a walking R2-D2 fridge!
For those of you who don't like to move when you're glued to the T.V., this is definitely a must have...if you've got a cool USD 9,000 lying around that is! We have to admit that it would be pretty cool to pretend to use the force to get R2-D2 to bring you a can of soda though. It's only exclusively available in Japan via pre-order from Haier Asia's AQUA brand. [caption id="attachment_3772" align="alignnone" width="900"]
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