Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on November 2013

Although Steve Jobs founded Apple in Silicon Valley and was a world icon by the time of his death, he also had special ties with Japan. “It is not only the uniform that he wore with the Issey Miyake turtlenecks,” director Joshua Michael Stern told Metropolis during his first visit to Tokyo to promote the biopic Jobs. “Even the Apple stores were inspired by a trip he took to Tokyo. There was such a high standard placed on square footage of a store, and he found that a very hip store had a very large space and very clean tables with the coolest jeans. He went back and said he wanted to do the same with Apple, which only had four products at the time.” Ashton Kutcher looks remarkably like the late innovator he plays in the film, and is himself a successful investor in tech startups between acting roles. Stern hopes that people in Japan will take a cue from both Jobs and Kutcher. “This is a post-industrial world now, with less people going to work at factories,” he says. “It is about innovation, what you can do for the world.” The director encouraged the audience at the Japan premiere to think of one idea that can help the world and share it through social media. The filmmaker admits he wouldn’t be where he is today without Jobs. “He didn’t invent the personal computer, but he envisioned desktop publishing. And I would never be able to write a script on a typewriter.”

Jobs is currently screening.