As I’ve mentioned in a couple of previous posts, when I was in Japan the other month, I lined up at the Ginza Apple Store in Tokyo on Leopard Day and caused quite a bit of attention when I pulled out an iPhone to pick songs to listen to. As a phone it was useless because the Japan telecom setup requires 3G to work. So seeing an iPhone in Tokyo wasn’t as common a thing as in other countries - hence the ruckus in the Ginza line.

Goes to show that in Apple-crazy Japan (where the leading OS is Mac OS X, and seeing MacBooks and MacBook Pros was a common sight everywhere), an iPhone would be more than a phenomenon if and when it comes out than it was in the US. Well, it seems progress is finally being made in that direction, reports the Wall Street Journal.

According to a report from the Journal last Wednesday, Steve Jobs has apparently been in talks with NTT DoCoMo, the top provider, and has also met with SoftBank, the third most popular one.

Aside from 3G, Apple might have to have a more-beefed up model to satisfy tech-savvy, spoiled and demanding Japanese users, which is good news for all concerned as it raises the bar for everyone concerned. No details or confirmations on the news, but two weeks previously, Apple was also talking to China Unicom and China Mobile.