Meryl Streep is humbled on Japan visit

Hollywood royalty arrives in Japan.

Actress Meryl Streep and "The Iron Lady" director Phyllida Lloyd travel to Tokyo for the film's premiere.

Key moments in former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher's life are the subject of the film.

She was considered as a trailblazer when it comes to equal rights between the sexes in Britain.

Lloyd says a woman of Thatcher's status was needed to be played by a woman of similar status in today's world.

SOUNDBITE: Phyllida Lloyd, director, saying (English):

"We all understood that we needed another global superstar to play her (Margaret Thatcher), that somebody of Meryl's intellectual and breadth."

Just days after Streep snagged the Best Actress Oscar for her role and days before the one-year memorial of Japan's earthquake and tsunami, she was humbled to be in Japan.

SOUNDBITE: Meryl Streep, actress, saying (English):

"So, I bring the film with respect and with great hope that things will get better soon for them (3.11 victims and families)."

"The Iron Lady" opens in theaters across Japan on March 16.

Alicia Powell, Reuters.