Stormtroopers Make Sure Japanese Children Plant Rice

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The rice planting season has wrapped up in Japan. Imperial Stormtroopers ensured everything went as planned.

[Photo: cinematoday_stf]

As noted on Japaaan and Game Over, the children were from a local nursery school in Aomori Prefecture, and they were enlisted for the day to help plant rice for rice paddy art.

This is actually a publicity stunt for the Star Wars: Episode VII The Force Awakens. The children were decked out in Star Wars t-shirts, and there was even one kid in a Darth Vader mask. With flowers.

[Photo: Disney Japan]

Heart. Melting.

[Photo: Cinema Today]

Best day out ever? Website Cinema Today has these delightful snaps.

[Photo: 2014kanida]

So this summer, when the rice grows tall, it should look like this:

[Photo: cinemtoday_stf]

Right now, it looks like this.

[via Japaaan and Game Over]

He’s pretty nice for a Stormtrooper.

[Photo: cinematoday_stf]

In case you missed it, you can check out more rice paddy art here and here.

To contact the author of this post, write to bashcraftATkotaku.com or find him on Twitter@Brian_Ashcraft.

Kotaku East is your slice of Asian internet culture, bringing you the latest talking points from Japan, Korea, China and beyond. Tune in every morning from 4am to 8am.