Nintendo is not accepting submissions from Japanese indie devs

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UPDATE #2: Nintendo has responded to Eurogamer regarding its Japanese arm's decision to not allow indies to self-publish and blamed the decision on the company's Japanese licensing department.

But Nintendo did not explain why the department had made this decision.

"The policy in question is the decision of Nintendo's department responsible for licensing activities in each region," a company spokesperson confirmed. "The licensing department of Nintendo Co., Ltd is currently not accepting subject applications from individuals in Japan."

UPDATE: I reached out to Japanese indie game expo BitSummit's director James Mielke to hear his thoughts on the matter. His reply is as follows:

"I wouldn't read too much into it. It's not to say Nintendo won't eventually open things up. When you've got franchises like Mario and Zelda, you have to maintain a certain quality control. But you'll note in that leaked document that it says 'developers located in Japan at this time.' Nintendo may simply still be tailoring their approach or legalese to Japanese indie developers. But I do hope they have something in store, because indie development is the water that fills a game library's riverbank. You can be a giant rock sitting right in the center of it all, but that water will flow right around you down other channels if you don't open yourself up to it."