Comment 848 for bug 1

In Japan it's even worse, the Aspire One available in the US with Windows XP or Linux (albeit a Fedora based distribution) is only available with Windows XP in Japan. Same with the MSI wind (which comes either with XP or SuSE in the US).

AFAIK Canonical doesn't even have a representative in Japan, all I can see on the ubuntulinux.jp site are references to forums and the community, which I think is a big mistake. The thing is the current situation is really not because people want Windows. The market share of the Mac is high in Japan, however most people just don't know that something beyond Windows exists, let alone have ever heard of Open Source. It's all about media penetration for one (getting your name out there) and getting your foot into the doors of BicCamera, Yodobashi Camera, Sakuraya and all the other giant electronics chain stores.

I think since it's so fashionable to have your own branded Store nowadays (Apple Store, Disney Store, you name it), I'd love to see an Ubuntu Store in Shibuya. Seriously.

That also would give Ubuntu immediate brand appeal. And the whole "ubuntu"-spirit is surely something that the Japanese would totally get, because they tick in a similar way. They are very community driven, they care for their neighbour etc. If you give people the chance to get a hands-on experience they'll get it, I'm sure. And Japanese are curious about anything seemingly new and different in general.