TOKYO — Tom Cruise loves Japan, and the Japanese certainly love the superstar actor who makes it a point to come here to promote each of his movies and interact with his fans. Cruise, who turns 44 on July 3, arrived in Japan at 4 a.m. Tuesday for a whirlwind promotional tour for “Mission: Impossible III,” along with director JJ Abrams, co-stars Keri Russell and Maggie Q, as well as producer Paula Wagner.

After charming the media at a news conference at Meiji Kinenkan, Cruise donned a happi coat for a meeting with Land, Infrastructure and Transport Minister Kazuo Kitagawa who presented him with a certificate of thanks for his efforts to promote Japanese culture through his films (specifically “The Last Samurai” and also for his stated desire to film parts of “Mission: Impossible IV” in Tokyo).

Cruise, who was ranked last week by Forbes magazine as the world’s most powerful celebrity, said meeting fans was the most important part of his trip. On Tuesday night, in a scene recreated from his latest film, he arrived by speedboat at Odaiba for the Japan premiere and spent an hour chatting with fans before heading off to party with “Last Samurai” mates Ken Watanabe and Hiroyuki Sanada.

On Wednesday morning, Cruise and 150 invited guests (chosen from 30,000 applicants) from regional areas departed Tokyo aboard a specially chartered bullet train for the 150-minute journey to Shin-Osaka. During the trip, Cruise is spending a minute with each passenger and posing for a photo with every one of the 150 fans onboard. He returned to the U.S. on Wednesday night.

Distributor UIP pulled out all the stops for the visit, spending 2 billion yen on the various events. Japan, of course, is the second biggest movie market in the world and Cruise’s films have consistently been hits here, where his sometimes eccentric behavior means little. “I think you all know my affinity for Japan and your culture,” he said.

“Mission: Impossible III” sees Cruise reprising his role as Ethan Hunt, now an IMF agent instructor called back into action to rescue a former team member who has been captured by a ruthless arms dealer (Philip Seymour Hoffman). Complicating matters is the fact that Hunt now has a wife who is not aware of his true occupation.

Abrams, best known for directing the TV series “Alias,” pours on the action. Cruise certainly earns the reported $20 million he was paid, doing most of the stunts himself. “I asked myself a couple of times why I still do that,” he said. “The scene where I am blown against a car on a bridge looked good when we wrote it on a Friday, but not on Monday when we filmed it. At that point, everyone was waiting around, looking at me, so I couldn’t get out of it.”

Both Cruise and Abrams (who was given the directing job by Cruise as a birthday present) wanted to inject the romance angle into the series. “We wanted a love story that was action-packed and had vivid characters. This is my favorite mission,” said Cruise.

But not his last mission. Tokyo looms on the horizon for the next one. “Actually, we wrote scenes for this one with Tokyo in mind, but we couldn’t find the right buildings,” said Abrams. “So in the end, we had to go to Shanghai.”

However, Cruise knows what he would like to do for “M:I IV,” if there is one. “I’d like to shoot in downtown Tokyo for a week. Just at night. It would be an unbelievable sequence. Of course, people might not be happy with the traffic.” The actor mentioned it during his meeting with Transport Minister Kitagawa who promised to cooperate.”

Cruise said he is more enthusiastic than ever about making movies. “I wish I could make two or three a year, but I am very particular about what I do,” he said. “When I was growing up, moving around, I never thought I would have the opportunity to make movies. It was a joke to even think about it. But the more I make movies, the more I appreciate it and the more I appreciate what other artists have done,” Cruise said, naming Muhammad Ali as his real-life hero because of his integrity and values. “I like to challenge myself just to see if I can do it. I love creating something together with a team, especially when it is a project close to my heart.”

Speaking of close to his heart, the Japanese media were disappointed that he didn’t bring his fiance Katie Holmes and their child Suri, as he promised he would. “Yeah, I know,” Cruise said, “but the trip was just too short.” He is still on cloud nine following the April birth. “I’m very happy. Last Sunday was the best Father’s Day I could have,” he said of his time with Holmes, Suri and his two adopted kids. “I think you all know what a gift children are. I feel the responsibility of that because they are the future. I feel overwhelmed with emotion at times when I look at my children. I always wanted to be a father my whole life. So I’m hoping I have 10 children,” he joked. (crisscross)