Writing over at StarWars.com, Pete Vilmur takes a look at the Japanese posters that accompanied the original trilogy, the Ewok movies and the two Star Wars Story releases, giving a different look at the films we love so much and an insight into how many Japanese fans first became aware of the movies.
During the original trilogy era of the late ‘70s and early ‘80s, marketing teams around the world were often given broad latitude to create Star Wars poster campaigns to suit local tastes and sensibilities, resulting in a rich variety of advertising imagery. This tradition shifted during the era of the prequels, however, when the same key advertising imagery was utilized across all markets around the globe, with the exception of — interestingly — the US, which did not enjoy the expanded poster campaigns seen in Europe and Asia. There has been a return in recent years to some regionally exclusive poster designs, including in Japan, again giving fans and collectors an opportunity to add a truly unique poster to their collection. As Star Wars Celebration heads back to Japan in 2025, StarWars.com is revisiting some of those rarities.
The following 12 Japanese Star Wars movie posters feature designs and/or illustrations used nowhere else in the world, making them especially appealing to fans wishing to collect each unique poster from a specific title (or every title!). You will notice that prequel posters are conspicuously absent from the list, as there were no poster graphics created exclusively for Japan during that era.
