Japan probably has one of the lowest piracy rates, so they don't seem to be forced to release earlier there. Japan's own media is even more backwards, most of their media never gets international releases although there is a big fansub scene. They don't seem to need the money.

> They don't seem to need the money.

Oh no, they DO need the money, believe me. Most of their productions take years to just break even, and some never do. The reason why they are not actively pursuing international releases is linked to the way Japanese do business. Most of these media companies are very traditional and do not understand the opportunities outside of Japan. And even if they did, they'd need to get the approval of an old 社長 to proceed with such plans. This happens very rarely. They are missing a huge market.

I know. That sentence was of course sarcastic ;). It's a shame too, because a lot of their media has that special charm and its artistic value is sometimes quite high IMO (especially in the anime department).

Fansubs (japanese subtitles) of foreign movie releases? Where is this scene? I can't watch an english language movie with Japanese friends until the J release without J subtitles.

I meant the other way around: Japanese media with english subtitles. For tv series / animes have a look at dramacrazy.net; If you want western movies with Japanese subs I recommend iTunes with a Japanese account or Tsutaya if you are staying in Japan (maybe Hulu has also some stuff by now).

Wow, that is crazy. I am really shocked that I got to watch it sooner in China than you did in Japan. I wonder why there is such a difference between the two countries...