The Land of the Rising One

Microsoft Japan President Yasuyuki Higuchi confirms Xbox One will not release in Japan this year in an interview with 4 Gamer. (Translations provided by Dualshockers)

Yasuyuki said:

For the launch of Xbox One, Japan is a Tier 2 country and not a Tier 1 country, so it’ll come with the second wave, that will be delayed a little bit [compared to North America].

For a country as large as Japan and with its history of video games, it’s an odd decision to brand it as second tier. Microsoft’s struggles to penetrate deep into the Japanese market are well documented.

He went on to say:

It won’t be delayed too much from the North American release.

With a planned North American launch in November, it looks like the Japanese will see the Xbox One on store shelves before the end of Q1 2014.