The game earned scores of 10, 9, 10, 9 from Famitsu's review crew (does anyone here know if any
other Western game has ever scored that high with them?) and the localized version ships today in Japan.  The PS3 version ships there in a few months.  It should be interesting to see if it has any significant impact on 360 sales. 

Sources:
http://bethblog.com/?p=155
http://bethblog.com/?p=167

I still hope it will do 115,000 but i think it will sell 90,000 units

Whats a significant increase for the 360 in japan.

i can safely say it wont beat trusty bell.

 Preorders suggested that Oblivion is higher than Trusty Bell. But I still agree with you, in that I don't expect lifetime sales to be as high as Trusty Bell.

Last I read, Oblivion only had like ... a 50,000 pre-order. The competition this week is way too tight for Oblivion to make a serious splash on the 360.

I read that the people behind Oblivion think it can move 360's the same way Blue Dragon moved them. I believe it will do well, but not Blue Dragon well. Then again....

Excellent score! Now lets see if it can sell some units & 360's :)

Will the PS3 version come out in Japan?

Woah. 38. Thats one of the highest (if not THE) scores that Famitsu has ever given a Western developer.

Also, yes, the PS3 version comes out in Japan - in October if I'm not mistaken.

I really, really hope Oblivion does well there - regardless of X360 and PS3. Japan needs some good WRPGs. The US has always loved JRPGs, now it's time for vice-versa.

"only 44 titles have gotten a score of 38 or better since September 1986. And, as you might expect, roughly half of those 44 are from Final Fantasy, Zelda, and Dragon Quest."

I'm not sure how such a high rating will influence sales, but it's nice to see a western game at least getting respect from the Japanese. We'll see how the Japanese consumer reacts.