With the release of the latest film in the Star Wars series approaching this winter, the film is garnering much attention. Recently, it was announced that "Star Wars Nebuta" will appear at the eve ceremony of the Aomori Nebuta Festival, a nationally designated Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property. Three of the four nebuta designs have been unveiled.
This year, "Star Wars" has been featured in various art projects, starting with the 66th Sapporo Snow Festival in Hokkaido in February, followed by the "Star Wars Exhibition: A Vision of Creation Continuing into the Future" (currently being held nationwide starting in Tokyo), which looked back on the series' history and showcased works in collaboration with various artists, and in June, "Rice Field Art" in Inakadate Village, Aomori Prefecture, featured the new character "BB-8" as the world's first official art piece.
And now, the film will be appearing at the Aomori Nebuta Festival, a famous summer tradition known as Japan's fire festival. The festival has attracted attention for its nebuta floats featuring historical figures, gods, and Buddhas, and in recent years, NHK's historical dramas. However, this will be the first time that meticulously crafted nebuta floats featuring characters from a film will be created.
The "Star Wars nebuta," which will appear at the pre-festival ceremony to be held at a special venue on August 1st, were personally supervised by Lucasfilm, the film's production company. The designs include a "droid nebuta" featuring familiar characters from the series, C-3PO and R2-D2; a "jedi nebuta" featuring Luke Skywalker and Yoda; a "sis nebuta" featuring Darth Vader and Darth Maul; and a secret design to be unveiled on the day of the pre-festival. A total of four "nebuta" will light up the summer night sky.
After being unveiled to the public at the pre-festival ceremony, this Star Wars Nebuta will be on special display at the Nebuta House "Wa Rasse" during the Aomori Nebuta Festival, which runs from August 2nd to 7th.
Star Wars: The Force Awakens will be released on Friday, December 18th.
