Tokyo tea party sets the stage for ‘Alice Through the Looking Glass’ in Japan

Australian actress Mia Wasikowska attended a Japanesestyle tea party in Tokyo on Monday at a press conference ahead of the premier of ‘Alice Through the Looking Glass’ in Japan, according to an epa journalist.

Attending the Tokyo press event with Wasikowska were American movie producer Suzanne Todd and British film director James Bobin, all of whom had worked on the fantastical film for three years before its completion and release in the United States earlier this year.

Based on the Lewis Carroll sequel to the 1865 novel ‘Alice in Wonderland’ in which the young girl Alice falls down a rabbit hole and enters an extraordinary world full of anthropomorphic creatures the new film has a cast of new characters including actor Sacha Cohen playing the villain ‘Time’.

In a symbolic gesture to the infamous “mad teaparty” with the Hare, Hatter and Dormouse in the first film, the Japanese press conference involved an elaborate Ocha, or traditional ritual of serving bitter green tea and sweets.

“Thank you so much, its amazing, it’s so beautiful,” said Wasikowska, adding that she loved the intricate details of the Japanese tea pottery, according to a video clip tweeted by the Mia Wasikowska Daily fan source.

The sequel has already premiered in a handful of European countries and Mexico in May and will be released in Japan on July 1, and reach Cambodia and Thailand by August 11, according to the Internet Movie Database (IMDb).

“This spring, it’s time for a little madness,” reads the tagline for the adventure film, in which Alice will once again journey to another magical world and battle the evil Red Queen.