There’s only one week left until Star Wars: The Last Jedi hits theaters in Japan and around the world. The global press tour for this movie has already been making the rounds in places like Mexico City, and on the night of Wednesday, December 6, 2017, writer-director Rian Johnson, producer Kathleen Kennedy, and stars Mark Hamill and Adam Driver came to Tokyo to promote the new film. One by one, their cars pulled up to Roppongi Hills Arena, where they took part in a red carpet event and stage greeting, followed by a Q&A and a special screening of 13 minutes from The Last Jedi at Toho Cinemas Roppongi.
'The Last Jedi' Red Carpet Event in Roppongi Hills
In contrast to the more subdued Tokyo International Film Festival, which takes place in the same venue every year, the atmosphere of this Star Wars premiere was more like that of a rock concert. Fans gathered inside and outside Roppongi Hills Arena, some of them sporting homemade costumes, others wearing authentic replicas of costumes from the Star Wars movie saga.
Along Keyakizaka Dori, the lighting pattern of the leafless zelkova trees alternated between long intervals of blue and short intervals of red, as it does every year during the winter illumination. Now, however, the colors seemed to take on added significance, as if fans were basking in the glow of a lightsaber duel where the Force was winning over the Dark Side.
Along the red carpet, a long line of autograph-seekers huddled together opposite reporters, photographers, and TV camera crews. At one point, Rian Johnson even went into the crowd, posing for selfies with fans.
First Order Stormtroopers (not pictured) also walked the red carpet and appeared on stage with the droids C-3PO, R2-D2, and BB-8.
Mark Hamill’s ‘Homecoming to Japan’
Before he ever played Luke Skywalker in Star Wars, Mark Hamill actually spent two years in Japan, living in Kanagawa Prefecture while attending Yokohama High School — where he evidently served as Student Body President. On Twitter, the actor thanked fans for welcoming him in his “homecoming to Japan.” It was the first time for him to make a work-related trip to Tokyo in 39 years. On stage, he joked that the only reason he left Japan in the first place was that his Japanese wasn’t good enough for him to get an acting job here.
'Star Wars' at 40 in the Land of the Rising Sun
This has been another banner year for Star Wars in Japan, with a massive snow sculpture in Sapporo and a 42-foot parade float in Fukuoka being two of the more memorable highlights. The character Kylo Ren featured prominently in both of those, so it was only appropriate that the actor who plays him, Adam Driver, should be on stage next to Hamill.
The fun isn’t over yet. From December 22 to 29, there’s also another free Star Wars exhibition planned at Nippon Television Tower in Shiodome. It’s the third straight year for such an exhibition to happen, and it should be a great way for fans in Tokyo over the holidays to close out the 40th-anniversary year of A New Hope, the movie that started it all.
To get a look at the two previous exhibitions, check out this photo gallery. And if you missed it, be sure to check out this article on the Japanese roots of Star Wars, a piece of niche writing that allowed yours truly to break into the movie blogosphere as a paid contributor to /Film earlier this year.