From Ioi's figures, it appears that the 360 has now surpassed the Xbox at this point in its lifespan in Japan -- and it's looking much better. The graphs are nearly reversed: the Xbox started out reasonably strong, then trailed off quickly, while the 360 started off weak, and has picked up some steam thanks to Japan-centric titles. The graph are pretty clear:

http://www.vgchartz.com/hwcomps.php?cons1=X360&reg1=Japan&cons2=XB&reg2=Japan&cons3=XB&reg3=Japan&align=1

With the addition of Lost Odyssey, the 360 should pass the Xbox in total lifetime sales by this Christmas (at least). This would give the Xbox360 another 3+ years of additional life to pull farther and farther away from its predessor.

Now, let's keep this in perspective, of course. The Xbox was a total flop in Japan, so the 360 is beating a total flop. Still, any company that sees a large increase in sales in any market has to be happy, and I don't think it's unreasonable to suggest that the 360 will double the original Xbox's lifetime sales in Japan, or more, by the time it's through. 

Any thoughts? Comments?  

360 can reach 1.0 to 1.3 million in Japan I think.  Alot will depend on the holidays this year.

Next gen Microsoft could have Dreamcast or Gamecube numbers I think.  The generation after that, they have as good a shot as anyone if this rate of expansion into Japan continued.

it's progress i guess, but it involves losing loads of money. It's still a failure though, they better plan on being here for many more generations if they are going to keep putting money in japan.

Guess its a positive - still a little way to go before it passes the Xbox lifetime sales. Still says a lot that it took this long for the 360 to reach Xbox sales at all (i.e. first time, well over a year).

I wouldn't say it's POSITIVE, exactly. Rather, it's more like... LESS negative. Johnsobas puts it well. It's a losing battle unless Microsoft plans on working its way into Japan like this for the next two gens at least.

Somehow the last 3 posters barely saw this as a positive, even though the 360 in 1 year and a half has surpassed the xbox's total lifetime sales...

It's important to note that this has been Microsoft's MO for some time now: they enter a new market, spend loads of dough, and gradually accrue market share. Then, they tie that new product in with their old ones, and effectively solidify their hold.

The easiest example of this is Internet Explorer. Many people may not remember the glory days of Netscape, but IE gradually eroded market share thanks to direct pushes from Microsoft (some pretty shady ones, at that). Slowly but surely.

I'm not convinced the same is happening in Japan, but it follows the same model. As the Source said, it's likely that the 360 will double Microsoft's market share, and I suspect the 720 will increase even further, unless they simply stop making RPGs (Blue Dragon 2 is already in development).  

It may be a comparatively minor milestone, but a milestone nonetheless. This implies that interest in 360 in Japan has increased over the years. They've seen an increase in hardware sales due to Blue Dragon, so if Microsoft can release more titles that cater to the interests of Japanese gamers, they could see even more increases in hardware sales.

It didn't pass teh lifetime sales for teh XBOX is still has a ways to go for that.

The 360 has just passed the XBOX total sales for thr first year and a half before that the 360 was lagging behind the XBOX in terms of sales till that point in time.

Itis a positive though

 One thing to note that even in the "lull" periods -- between major, Japan-centric games such as Blue Dragon -- the baseline sales have continued to increase. When the system came out, off-weeks were 1k or so in sales: after Blue Dragon, it was 2k or so; now I think we're seeing 2.5k, or even 3k per week as the low end of the spectrum. 

If they keep pumping out RPGs, that baseline shoudl continue to take baby steps forward. 3k, 3.5k, 4k... it adds up in the end. An increase of 1k a week is an additional 260,000 consoles sold over the course of a 5 year lifespan.