The Star Wars movies are strongly and directly influenced by samurai movies. Not just the swordfighting either. The name "Jedi" (from jedaigeki), the kimono-like robes, Obi-wan the old master, R2D2 and C3P0 from Hidden Fortress, and so on.
I wondered if Japanese audiences are aware of these connections and what they think of them. (I thought I'd reach more Japanese by listing this question here, rather than in the movies section.)
Star Wars is extremely popular in Japan. I bought a Star War Factbook, when I was there, that contains an extreme amount of detail into all the characters, creatures, vehicles, machinery, etc. You name it, it's in the book (Episodes 1, 4, 5 and 6). The thing is that I thought it was in English, but it's in Japanese. That shows that there are people out there who really care about all the little tidbits of info.
The thing is, the series came to Japan at a time where American movies were lacking to Japanese movies (at least in their minds). This was also likely an inspiration for many filmmakers in Japan, so it definitely is popular.
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