StarWars.com, the official site of Lucasfilm, has produced a number of fascinating articles on the long-standing ties between the Star Wars Saga and Japan. There will be more added, so keep checking back to this convenient listing.

Noriyoshi Ohrai: Star Wars Illustrator
January 3, 2008
By Pete Vilmur
As the 30th anniversary of the Star Wars saga slowly recedes into history with the arrival of 2008, the new year actually marks the 30th anniversary of Star Wars for other countries around the world, including Japan. In an age when films are released internationally within weeks or days of each other, it’s hard to believe A New Hope was not unveiled in the Land of the Rising Sun until July of 1978, over a year after its U.S. debut.
www.starwars.com/collecting/news/misc/news20080103.html

Checklist: 10 Things You Didn't Know About Star Wars in Japan
February 25, 2008
With the recent announcement of Celebration Japan, we thought we'd share ten facts about Star Wars in Japan that most people may not be aware of. Thirty years of Star Wars has fostered an extremely passionate fan following overseas, and it may surprise you just how much the saga has impacted Japanese culture.
www.starwars.com/community/event/celebration/f20080225/index.html

Checklist: Turning Star Wars Japanese -- Manga Scenes Done Better
February 27, 2008
By Pablo Hidalgo
Manga vs. Marvel -- it's truly an unfair comparison to gauge how well Marvel Comics originally adapted the classic trilogy films against how Japanese artists did the same. The deck is definitely stacked in manga's favor. For the Marvel adaptations, produced during each film's post-production period, the artists had not seen the films -- they were working merely from the script, with some key photography and maybe some concept art. Japanese manga has a much more flexible format and page count to accommodate a more deliberate and varied pace of storytelling. Since the Japanese manga versions did not come out until 1997, the artists benefited from years of studying the flow and dynamics of the movies.

This list isn't really meant to be a competition; instead it's a contrast at how different cultures approach the same subject matter in graphically illustrated form.
www.starwars.com/eu/lit/comics/f20080227/index.html

Made (First) in Japan
February 28, 2008

Ten Items Japan Beat Us To
By Pete Vilmur
When it comes to Star Wars collectibles produced in Japan, the first reaction most US fans have is, "Why don't we get this stuff?" Some of the coolest items bearing the Star Wars name have actually come from across the Pacific, leaving many stateside collectors wishing they had a good connection overseas.
www.starwars.com/collecting/news/misc/f20080228/index.html

Checklist: Japanese Covers, Part I
March 05, 2008
A Japanese Star Wars fan's bookshelf will look a lot different than an American fan's bookshelf. Put aside the language difference for now, there's a big difference in format. Japanese paperbacks are often quite small -- literally pocket books -- and to fit a Star Wars novel into that space often requires serializing the content. Presented here and in two upcoming articles is a showcase of Japanese cover art.
www.starwars.com/eu/lit/novel/f20080305/index.html

Checklist: Japanese Covers, Part II: The New Jedi Order
March 06, 2008
The art for The New Jedi Order series is truly breathtaking for two main reasons. One, the size of the novels has required that each book be split into at least two parts -- so that means we get double the amount of regular cover art. And secondly, Tsuyoshi Nagano's amazing paintings build upon the concepts produced for the domestic covers and add so much more.
www.starwars.com/eu/lit/novel/f20080306/index.html

Checklist: Japanese Covers, Part III
March 07, 2008
Concluding our gallery of Japanese editions of Star Wars novels is this mixed assortment of Clone Wars, Dark Nest, Jedi Quest and Last of the Jedi books. Most of this art is by Tsuyoshi Nagano, the amazing talent that created cover art for the Japanese New Jedi Order series.
www.starwars.com/eu/lit/novel/f20080307/index.html

Tokyo Pop: Japanese Coca-Cola Collectibles
March 10, 2008

Coke Makes Star Wars Big in Japan
By Pete Vilmur, Eimei Takeda & Hideyuki Takizawa
When it comes to movie promotional tie-ins, one needn't go much further back than 1977 to see where modern-day campaigns got their start. 1977, of course, was the year Star Wars exploded across movie screens around the world, driven by positive reviews from the press and enthusiastic word-of-mouth on the street.

But Star Wars reached beyond the conventional publicity channels back in 1977, primarily through an expansive promotional tie-in campaign. This got the Star Wars message into restaurants, supermarkets, convenience stores, and even vending machines -- yes, vending machines -- under bottle caps of Japanese Coca-Cola products.
www.starwars.com/collecting/news/misc/f20080310/index.html

Drawing Manga-style Princess Leia
March 12, 2008
Graphic storytelling is a respected and centuries-old art form in Japan, and since the end of World War II, comic books -- known in Japan as "Manga" -- have remained the country's dominant medium of entertainment. And over a period of at least the last twenty years, Manga comics have become increasingly popular with international, and especially North American audiences.

Here our own Star Wars illustrator Matt Busch explains with these easy-to-follow steps on how to draw a Manga-style portrait of the feisty Princess Leia.
www.starwars.com/kids/activity/draw/f20080312/index.html

Tee Off With Star Wars Golf Gear from Japan
March 25, 2008
Sculpted art or sporting good? We'll let you decide which best describes Bridgestone Sports' new pair of Star Wars golf bags, each highly stylized in the guise of Darth Vader or a stormtrooper. These amazing golf bags from Japan will soon be available for a suggested retail price of 50,000 JPY, or about $500. Also down range are three golf club covers sporting Vader, stormtrooper, and TIE fighter designs, as well as Star Wars-themed ball markers.

With such an inspired set of Star Wars golfware, can a caddy-droid be far behind?
www.starwars.com/collecting/news/misc/news20080325b.html