SoraNews24 —Japan News—

Bringing you yesterday's news from Japan and Asia, today.

RocketNews24 Japanese

TOP

» Japan
» We visited the gold Star Wars calendar and Darth Vader helmet in Ginza!【Photos】

Featured

Weird
Studio Ghibli
Jobs

We visited the gold Star Wars calendar and Darth Vader helmet in Ginza!【Photos】

Preston Phro Dec 5, 2015
Tweet

top (1)

A giant, solid gold Star Wars calendar? Yep, and it’s just as insane as you’re imagining!

Ginza Tanaka made headlines around the world this week after revealing a one-of-a-kind solid gold Star Wars calendar commemorating the December 18 release of Star Wars: The Force Awakens, the newest installment of the franchise. The 2016 calendar is, according to the company, the largest gold calendar in history, with 10 kilograms (22.0462 pounds) of gold, and will cost 100,000,000 yen (about US$810,000). The whole thing, including the frame and stand, is 116 centimeters (about 3.8 feet) tall and will look completely normal stashed in a cargo hold in the Millennium Falcon.

▼ “Ostentatious” doesn’t even begin to cover it.

However, considering the current cost of gold as of this writing ($34,909 per pound), there is roughly $770,000 worth of gold in this calendar, so we do have to say that it’s actually kind of a reasonable price! And since it is a unique item, we imagine it might even grow in value…as long as future collectors don’t mind displaying an out-of-date calendar!

▼ Maybe they can get it re-engraved?

The back of the calendar also features a striking image of characters from the the upcoming movie. We couldn’t help noticing that they all appear to be from the dark side, though, which makes us wonder who exactly the target demographic for this item is…

Of course, even hardcore Star Wars fans may think twice about spending so much money on a calendar that will be out of date in 12 months. But what about something a bit smaller? Ginza Tanaka also offers one-gram (0.035-ounce) and five-gram (0.176-ounce) gold calendars that cost 15,000 yen (about $120) and 53,000 yen (around $430) respectively.

▼ The smaller calendars feature the same image on the back.

Ginza Tanaka also had a gold Darth Vader helmet on display, though it was not for sale, sadly. We can’t imagine how much it would cost, but we bet it would also look pretty awesome in a space smuggler’s cargo hold!

▼ Maybe they’ll make the rest of the suit for the next movie.

There were a number of other items on display, all of them as gloriously garish as you could possibly desire! For example, here we have a silver ear pick and silver toothpick in the shape of lightsabers.

The jewelry store also had some Star Wars-themed koban (oval gold coins used as currency in Japan during the Edo period). We doubt anyone would accept them as payment — or that anyone would even want to use these to pay for lunch — but they certainly do look cool!

The giant gold calendar will go on tour around Ginza Tanaka’s various locations in Japan, including stops in Nagoya, Osaka, Fukuoka, and Shinjuku. It looks like the tour will last from now until February, so even if you buy it now, you probably won’t be able to start marking off the days until it’s out-of-date until the middle of February. But it would make for one hell of a Valentine’s Day surprise!