Probably my last Japanese question for a while, but since you seem to be knowledgeable about these things, might you be able to say how long after Star Wars came out in American theaters did it take to get into foreign markets such as Japan? While Star Wars undoubtedly swept the globe in its day, I don't know how long it really took to reach most non-US markets, since I don't think they expected it to be a hit, so I have doubts that they had many dubs or subtitle translations prepared by the time of the US release. I could be wrong, but I imagine there was quite a scramble to disseminate it globally after premiered so strongly.

Side note: dear God I leave for Japan a week from today! Somebody pinch me (not you Frink).