While passing by one of the shops in Akihabara I happened to catch a glimpse of an Eee PC but to my surprise it was not running Linux but Windows XP home edition. 

You can clearly see the ASUS OEM branding in the system properties and the windows key on the keyboard. I got a confirmation from the store manager that this store will not sell any Linux Eee PCs, in fact he said that all Eee PCs sold in Japan will come with Windows and not Linux!

That's right, this revolutionary device famous for it's low price, light weight, and Linux based OS will only be light weight in Japan because along with the non-free OS comes a price bump.

I wonder how Linus would feel about this after publicly praising ASUS for their choice to free themselves from "being controlled from the outside" as he so elegantly put it.

Update 2008/08/28 - Several months and a few new Eee PC models later and still no Linux Eee PCs in Japan. Looks like MS has a strong contract with Asus here.