But the Japanese campaign for Memoirs of a Geisha is more lavish, and on a much faster track, than the U.S. version. 　

A three-minute trailer for the film (Sayuri) has been playing in Japanese theaters since August. The U.S. trailer, which bows this month, is shorter, relying more on allusions to Arthur Golden's bestselling novel (which was less of a hit in Asia). The U.S. trailer is also more keyed up, with almost an action-movie vibe, and it features fewer lingering shots of Japanese actors Ken Watanabe and Kogi Yakusho. 　　

Spyglass, which co-financed the $85 million pic with Sony and DreamWorks, is distribbing Geisha abroad, using different distributors in different territories. Buena Vista Int. is releasing the film in Japan. In a gesture that's part strategic, part cultural, Buena Vista teamed for the first time ever with Japanese distributor Shochiku on the release. 　　

Memoirs of a Geisha unspools December 9th and 10th in the U.S. and Japan, respectively. Yet as far back as last January, a huge press junket for the pic was held in Tokyo. Tokyo will also host the film's world premiere on November 29th. Los Angeles will have its party later in the week, on December 4th. 　　

There are a few reasons behind this aggressive, and geographically specific, marketing push, not least of all the fact that Memoirs of a Geisha is an innately Japanese story. Because of the storyline, Japan is obviously a critical market for us, says Spyglass co-chairman Gary Barber. 　　

The fact that Japan is by far the biggest film market in Asia adds to the impetus to target the territory with care. (Warner Bros. also went out of its way to woo Japan when it released The Last Samurai, a move that paid off at the Japanese box office.) 　

However, the strategy to pull out all stops in Japan is not merely a flood-the-zone marketing tactic. There's preemptive thinking at work as well, namely to curb, and hopefully eliminate, criticism that the pic has received for its ethnically inaccurate casting. 　　Even before Geisha started filming in Japan last year, controversy swirled over the fact that Chinese actresses Zhang Ziyi and Gong Li plus Malaysia's Michelle Yeoh had been cast in Japanese roles. Some claimed the decision smacked of Hollywood imperialism/blindness, and the issue quickly became a marketing headache.