Is Amazon Ready to Take on Japan?

In a move that has been a long time coming, Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) is finally bringing its popular Kindle e-readers to the Japanese market.

The company announced Wednesday that it has opened a Japanese Kindle store and is offering some 50,000 titles in its Japan e-book collection. Additionally, consumers in the tech-friendly country will be able to purchase the Kindle Paperwhite, Fire, and Fire HD at local retail stores.

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The expansion into Japan is one that Chief Executive Jeff Bezos has been planning for a while now, but issues with local publishers have repeatedly delayed the launch.

Amazon is entering a tablet reader market in Japan that should offer up some stiff competition. Local e-commerce company Rakuten and Sony (NYSE:SNE) both have popular devices that will compete with the Kindles. However, Amazon has made one move that is sure to boost the Kindle’s appeal: thanks to an agreement with NTT DoCoMo (NYSE:DCM), 3G Paperwhite users will enjoy free 3G wireless service and skip the fees and hassles of using Wi-Fi to access mobile data.

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