After an absence of six and a half years, Star Wars will finally return to the big screen in May with the Mandalorian and Grogu movie. Consequently, the promotion campaign for it is starting to ramp up a bit as the countdown to its release gets closer and closer.

Star Wars pop up stores are common in Tokyo all year round these days, but a few have recently opened to help promote the new film, and NTV Tower have put on a free exhibition as they did for the trilogy of sequel movies between 2015 and 2019. This business center is located just a few minutes from Shimbashi station and there was a giant billboard in the underpass connecting the two.

The exhibition ran for just nine days between March 21-29. Not only was it totally free but visitors were also given a postcard and movie pamphlet at the entrance area.

A giant Grogu statue greeted us immediately on entering the exhibition which is all part of the “cutest in the galaxy” range of merchandise. Grogu is such a hugely marketable asset, particularly in a cute-obsessed country like Japan, and this will play a big role in trying to lure the more casual Star Wars fans back into cinemas.

A wall displaying the front and back of the Japanese flyer was up next and had I been with someone I probably would’ve had my photo taken in front of the main one.

The Nebuta (large, brightly coloured lantern-like floats) display from Star Wars Celebration Japan 2025 was also present in what was basically a two-room display of items.

What was really impressive was the live chalk art of the promotional poster for the movie which was near completion when I attended.

There was some kind of Mandalorian helmet collection dedicated to the legendary bounty hunter which very much reminded me of the Vader Project that featured at Star Wars Celebration Japan in 2008.

Other than that, the little green fella certainly won the battle for space between the duo who get equal billing in this sequel movie to the three seasons of ‘The Mandalorian‘ TV series.

The Sapporo Snow Festival earlier this year had a giant Mandalorian and Grogu sculpture to commemorate the release of the film, and there was something related to that on display in a glass case not that I know what exactly it was!

There was then a free photo opportunity located next to a couple of promotional art that I’d not previously seen.

Visitors were given a bag containing Grogu and then told to do a hand gesture at the screen in front of you. A photo was taken and a QR code print out was given out taking you to a site for downloading. I have to say I was expecting to pay for this or have to enter a load of personal details, but it really was just a simple download.

The highlight of the next room for me was probably the model X-Wing starfighter. I’m not sure this was the same one that was on display at Star Wars Celebration 11 months ago as it seemed a bit smaller and the nose looked a bit cleaner.

Something that was definitely new was the lightsaber art with nine Jedi weapons being used to create a simple but effective sunshine-like visual.

As someone who attends pretty much every single Star Wars exhibit or pop-up store in Tokyo, I sure am getting very familiar with the exact same life-size character statues reappearing, particularly the droids and stormtrooper ones. They seem to get moved around from place to place.

Chewbacca and Han Solo frozen in carbonite were nearby but the lighting made it quite difficult to get some half-decent shots.

No characters were present from the prequel trilogy, but the sequel films were supported by the appearance of BB-8 and Kylo Ren.

Ink stamps are hugely popular in Japan among all ages and there was a sizable queue of people waiting in another room to get the various prints put on their sheets of paper. As I had time to kill, I joined them!

Such things are always a good way of raising the profile of an upcoming movie in Japan and helping to get bums on seats in May and June this year when it hits the cinemas. It’ll be good to have Star Wars back on the big screen and this free event has whetted my appetite further. Let’s hope there are some more promotional events on the horizon.

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