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.

So, in celebration of Japan's approaching Star Wars anniversary, and to keep the festive momentum of 2007 rolling, we thought we'd begin the new year sharing the work of one of Japan's most prolific and accomplished Star Wars illustrators, Noriyoshi Ohrai.

Now Ohrai is something of an enigma -- information about the artist is elusive at best, and from what we've gathered from friends in Japan, very little information has been published about him. No matter -- we can let his work speak for itself, and perhaps offer a few hints on where aficionados might uncover some of these lost gems from Japan.

One of Ohrai's first published Star Wars images, if not the first, was a stunning gatefold illustration appearing in an obscure 1978 magazine-book (or "mook") called "An Invitation to the Fantasia of Space SF Films" by publisher Town Mook. Showcasing A New Hope's cast against a backdrop of the film's space-faring hardware, the strong horizontals, dense detail and unexpected use of a green star-scape distinguish this one from most saga illustration. German poster printer ZigZag reissued this image in the mid-'90s, removing the non-English text and awkwardly cropping off the right edge of the artwork. The only way to get the full, unaltered composition is to hunt down the original publication -- better start mooking!

Ohrai's other Star Wars contribution from 1978 came in the form of a second gatefold, this time attached to the Japanese version of Splinter of the Mind's Eye (the first Expanded Universe novel). An obscure image of Luke and Artoo astride a crash-landed X-wing in dense foliage recalls a similar scene from Empire's Dagobah swamp -- although this art appeared two years earlier, and depicts a scene from the novel.

For The Empire Strikes Back, Ohrai submitted at least four rough poster concepts to Lucasfilm, all depicting a looming Vader in the background with distinct color schemes and compositions for each. One with a Star Destroyer bearing down on the viewer appears like something out of Japanese anime, and the blue concept with Millennium Falcon resembles a piece Ohrai would later do for the Japanese-dubbed version of Star Wars in 1982 (see below).

Probably Ohrai's most recognized image is the beautiful illustration he composed to grace the Japanese release posters for The Empire Strikes Back. The mixture of characters with hardware, dynamic composition, and refreshing use of greens and violets makes this one a standout piece of Star Wars illustration, a favorite of many poster collectors. This artwork was also used on several international posters for Empire, including an obscure Spanish-language one-sheet printed in the U.S.

To commemorate the Japanese-dubbed version of Star Wars in 1982, Ohrai composed this fantastic illustration for theater sales which highlighted the hardware aspects of the film. Judging from this illustration, as well as those done before and after, it would seem the artist has an affinity for a certain Corellian freighter.

While Ohrai's Return of the Jedi illustration may not be as well-known as his Empire poster artwork, it certainly matches it in terms of desirability.

Coined the "Starfall" poster by collectors, this poster was available for purchase at only the largest theaters in Japan for a very short time. It has consequently become one of the most sought-after posters by collectors. That's the Cone Nebula in the image, by the way.

Also available in some Japanese theaters in 1983 was a rare set of five portfolio prints done by Ohrai (spelled "Olai" in this instance), depicting various poster concepts for Jedi. A rough sketch of the Starfall poster is here, as well as several nebula-rich Millennium Falcon compositions. Like the Starfall poster, this set is very rare and scarcely seen by fans.

It would be 14 years before we'd see more Star Wars illustrations by Ohrai, this time commemorating the Special Editions of the classic trilogy. Japan's Media Works published a six-volume manga series in 1997, each with a cover by Ohrai. Actually, since each film was split into two volumes, the covers could be paired to form a full composition. These fantastic covers exhibit the signature characters and hardware, design density, and inspired use of color that fans have come to expect of Ohrai. The full set of six volumes is a bit tough to find, and can be pricey.

The last Star Wars illustration we know to have come from Ohrai was in 1999, just as the prequel trilogy was kicking off. He composed a striking gatefold cover for the July issue of Japan's HiHo magazine, depicting the characters and starships of Episode I. With his affinity for fiery tones and dense composition, we can only imagine what he could have done with the characters and hardware of Revenge of the Sith.

Hopefully, we have not seen the last of Ohrai's visits to the Star Wars universe.