It’s been a long time coming, but Star Wars Celebration returned to Japan in April 2025. The last time the event came to Japan was way back in 2008 and I was lucky enough to be living here and attend. Let’s take a look at everything Celebration Japan 2025 had on offer and also give you guys a bit of a retrospective on the 2008 iteration. Let’s get into it.
Floor Experience
Just for a recap, Star Wars Celebration Japan 2025 took place from Friday, April 18 until Sunday, April 20. It was ¥8,298 for single day entry for adults, or a three day pass for ¥23,808. There were higher grades of tickets that you could purchase, but I just stuck with what would get me in the doors. Celebration Japan this year was “the biggest international Star Wars Celebration ever” as it drew in over 105,000 people from over 125 countries. There were 26 hours of programming across the main stages and 100 hours of fan panels and podcasts. Needless to say, it was a pretty huge outing.
I won’t get into many (if any) of the announcements that were made over the three day event as I think that’s been covered pretty extensively elsewhere. That, and I just didn’t get into any of the main panels or autograph sessions. I attended the show on Saturday, April 19 and bought my tickets a year prior. While I know a lot of people out there complained about the crowds, I didn’t feel it was THAT bad. Having over 100,000 people at any event is a huge inconvenience for a number of reasons. Long lines, congestion on the show floor - these kind of things can be a bit annoying. Having been to Tokyo Game Show multiple times over the years, an event that can draw up to 100,000 people or more per day, this seemed quite tame compared to that. There were a lot of people, but it didn’t really have any effect on my experience in a negative aspect.
While I didn’t really attend any of the panels, there were still a number of cool things to do on the floor. The whole Japanese theme meshed with Star Wars was great to see, especially the Anime and Manga Pavilion. There were a lot of displays for Star Wars Visions shows, including costumes art and more. On top of that, there was an interactive commercial (for lack of better words) for some cool look manga that took place in a special room on the show floor. This had manga panels being displayed in a 360 degree fashion which was really great to see in person (I unfortunately didn’t get any pictures or video of this one, and frankly, it is just something that has to be experienced to get the whole effect).
Shopping
While the main draw for most was likely the official Celebration Store, the lines were completely packed, so I honestly just gave up on the idea of getting anything from there. When purchasing the ticket a year before the event, attendees were able to pick up some official merch that way, so I opted to get a magnet with the logo. Outside of that, there were numerous vendors on the show floor selling books, toys and a variety of other kinds of merch. I was happy to find some shops that sold retro action figures. While some of the figures from the 70s and 80s were selling for quite a bit of money, I was able to purchase some reasonably priced toys from the 1990s Power of the Force line, which released when I was a kid. Did I overspend on them? Yeah, probably, but oh well.
There was a pretty big showcase for upcoming figures from Hasbro, including their retro lineup, Hot Toys and more. Unless I missed something, the Hasbro stuff was just for display purposes only, while Hot Toys and S.H. Figuarts had stuff for sale. While some of the Hot Toys and Figurarts stuff is a bit out of my price range, I really liked the retro lineup and the look at some of the upcoming Black Series figures. Again, it was just a shame that none (or not much) of that stuff was available to buy.
Special Food & Drink Menu
Celebration Japan had a fun themed menu for both food and drinks. I didn’t get to try everything on the menu, but I did manage to try Wookie Yakisoba (which was shaped like Chewbacca), the Wagyu Speeder Skewer, Grogu’s Delight and It’s a Trap Takoyaki. The takoyaki kind of surprised me because one of them (that i was “lucky” enough to try) was pretty spicy - you can find these kind of “games” with various food items at restaurants here, making it pretty fun with friends. Overall, though, things were a bit pricey, but the quality of the food was pretty decent. The wagyu and chicken (Grogu’s Delight) was also pretty great. This was a fun addition to the show.
My wife and I hit the food court early to avoid crowds. According to some other fans that I chatted with, the wait times on the first day were insane, having them wait an hour or two to get their food. It wasn’t my first rodeo, so I knew that if we wanted to ear, we’d have to get there early to have our choice of food and avoid the lines. It was also just a cool set up, with imperial and rebel logos on the tradition Japanese style lanterns - nice touch!
Cosplayers
I think it goes without saying, but the cosplayers at SWCJ were on point! You can clearly tell that a lot of love, passion and thought went into these. I was thoroughly impressed by an almost perfect “old man” Luke cosplayer, a Din Djarin/Pedro Pascal look-alike, a freakin’ Amanaman (if you know what that is, be sure to let us know in the comments!) and “George Lucas.” These were just a few of my favorites. Seriously, though, it’s these people that make big events like this even more awesome. If you were cosplaying at the event or do it elsewhere, kudos to your dedication and passion for the series. You rock!
Star Wars Celebration Japan 2008
It feels like a lifetime ago for me, and it kind of was, but Star Wars Celebration Japan back in 2008 had a completely different feel to it. At the time, the only thing new that Star Wars had going for it was The Clone Wars movie and upcoming television series. For Japan in 2008, the series was celebrating its 30th anniversary. Dave Filoni was even at the show as were some stars from both the original and prequel trilogies. Anthony Daniels, Jake Lloyd, David Prowse, Daniel Logan, Jeremy Bulloch (the original Boba Fett), MARK FREAKIN HAMIL and more. Since this was pretty much a pre-smartphone era for Japan, I didn’t really take any videos of the event, but I did manage to snap some pictures of my one day on the show floor with my digital camera.
The event took place from Saturday, July 19 until Monday, July 21 (which was the national holiday, Marine Day). Regular tickets ran ¥4,000 a head for adults (¥2,000 for kids) with options for Yoda Premium Ticket for ¥22,000 and a Vader Premium one day ticket for ¥7,500.
Panels also took place on the show floor and were held in quite a different manner than what they are these days. For 2025 here in Japan, you had to register in advance for a limited number of seats. Back then, you could just line up, sit down and check things out. The one I remember the most from 2008 featured Steve Sansweet interviewing Mark Hamil. I’m sure you can probably find a clip of it somewhere out there, but the thing I remembered the most was how Hamil was talking about how he lived in Japan on the military base in Yokosuka (maybe) and him pitching a new random comic book project. Oh, and he also would talk for too long and not give the translator a chance to catch up and share what he was saying to the Japanese speakers in the audience.
I still kick myself for not throwing down the ¥12,000 to meet Mark and get his autograph. Unlike these days, the price you paid included an autograph and you could just take a photo together as long as they said it was okay. I managed to get an autograph and meet Jeremy Bulloch and Amy Allen (Aayla Secura, the blue Twilek Jedi in the prequels). Not only that, but I swear that I saw Daniel Logan at McDonald’s near the venue afterwards. Since I wasn’t sure (and since there were a lot of non-Japanese people wondering around), I didn’t work up the courage to say anything just in case I was wrong.
Compared to 2025, Celebration Japan in 2008 drew in around 17,000 fans, and it kind of felt a bit more like a small-time venue. Star Wars and the fandom has changed a ton since then…
Conclusion
It was great to see Star Wars Celebration make its return to Japan during a time when Star Wars is actually relevant. Back in 2008, the event felt kind of like a throw away - the last breath of a dying franchise that was doing very little to evolve. Fast forward to now, and the series is alive, in full swing, for the delight and dismay of many fans. Despite being a tad crowded, I had a great time just hanging out and seeing what was on display. I’m looking forward to the next Celebration Japan. Hopefully we won’t have to wait another 17 years for one here.
But let’s turn things over to you. Did you attend Star Wars Celebration Japan 2025? What did you think? Did you check things out from afar? What announcements are you the most excited about? Sound off in the comments down below. We’d love to hear from you.
by Danny Bivens
Sources and Further Reading
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