After a few delays the 25th Eon-produced James Bond film finally hit cinemas in Japan on Friday 1st October which was something of a surprise as it was only a few days after the worldwide premiere in London. The Japanese release dates of all the other 007 movies starring Daniel Craig have come over a month later so I was delighted that I didn`t have to avoid spoilers for long at all this time. Furthermore, there was a free pop-up exhibition to help promote the release of the much anticipated movie.

Just over the road from the Godzilla Statue is Tokyo Hibiya Midtown (1-1-2 Yurakucho, Chiyoda-ku) which since September 29th has held a very small exhibition on the ground floor revolving around the style and taste of James Bond. The first thing to grab most peoples attention is the Aston Martin car. The DB5 model (1963 – 1966) has a rich history in 007 films having debuted in `Goldfinger` (1964) before going on to appear in `Thunderball` (1965), `GoldenEye`(1995), `Tomorrow Never Dies`(1997), `Casino Royale` (2006), `Skyfall` (2012), `Spectre` (2015) and now in `No Time To Die`(2021).

That is not the only vehicle from the latest movie which you can get an up-close look at as there are a couple of motorbikes on show too.

In terms of clothing there is James Bond`s Tom Ford Dinner Suit which was worn by Daniel Craig (who has portrayed 007 for longer than any of the other actors) in the film.

The Bond villain this time is Lyutsifer Safin (Rami Malek) and his Suttirat Anne Larlarb designed outfit is also on show. Sadly the lighting in the place is so bright and reflective that it`s difficult to get such great shots.

The striking mask which Safin wore in the film is also displayed in a glass case between the two aforementioned items of clothing. It was inspired by traditional Japanese Noh  which is a classical Japanese dance-drama which has been around since the 15th century. It was also designed by Suttirat Anne Larlarb with the intention being to create a pure, expressionless, clean mask to counter the aggression of the character.

This shopping mall exhibit is of course just one big promotional tool for the new film and there are posters all around as well as monitors playing the trailer. It`s a great place to pop into before or after seeing the movie at the Toho Cinema located close by.

A couple of appointments in the morning and evening on October 1st, as well as a typhoon wasn`t going to stop me from getting to my local cinema to see the fifth and final outing of Daniel Craig as the British secret service agent. Never have I had to take a bag to the cinema with a new set of clothes to change into! It`s still very early days so I can`t really give any thoughts or opinions on this epic 163 minute movie.

That was my first time to go to the cinema since `The Rise Of Skywalker` (2019) and it was fairly empty due to the current Covid_19 restrictions (or maybe just because it`s not popular!). I am still reflecting on the content of the film and really want to see it again before I make any kind of decision as to where it may sit in my ranking of all the James Bond movies. Ultimately I was very satisfied though and people should watch it before it gets spoiled.

Click here to read `All The James Bond Movies Ranked From Worst To Best`

The Complete List Of James Bond Filming Locations

007 Museum in Naoshima

Review: Books Set In Japan – ‘The Man With The Red Tattoo’ (2002)