Canis lupus
Member
from Kotaku, 2ch comments on the XBOXO
On Twitter in Japan, the newly announced Xbox One has a couple of new nicknames. However, there is a bit of a good natured dispute over what the Xbox One's nickname will be: "Batsuichi" (Once Divorced) or "Hako 1" (Box 1).
The name "Xbox" has always been somewhat problematic for Japan, because "X" is "batsu" (ばつ in Japanese and is used to mark incorrect answers. In the West, "X" can cross things out. But it can also mean "X marks the spot" or carry the nuance of "extreme". In Japan, however, the circle is used to denote correct items. (This is why on Japanese PlayStation controllers, the circle button is used to select.) Thus, the "X" can have a negative meaningthough, not always. For example, Toyota has a sedan in Japan called "Mark X". Old Japanese men seem to like it fine!
http://kotaku.com/heres-what-people-in-japan-think-of-xbox-one-509246328As mentioned above, one of the nicknames for the "Xbox One"a nickname that seems to have started on Twitteris the Japanese word for "divorced". The shortened "X1" can be read as "batsuichi" (バツイチ, which is literally "one x" and means "once divorced".
(Interesting side note: the official Twitter account of Japanese electronics company Sharp tweeted a photo of its X1, which was a home computer released in the 1980s. No idea if this product was also called "once divorced" back in the day.)
The other nickname is a continuation of the somewhat disparaging nickname for the Xbox 360, which is "Hako 0" (箱0 or Hako Maru). "Hako" (箱 means "box", and "maru" means "circle". In Japanese, calling the console "hako" isn't rude per se. It just doesn't sound very cool! So, now Xbox One is also being called "Hako 1" (箱1 is "Hako One" or "Hako Ichi", with, of course, "ichi" being "one" in Japanese.) In an odd way, calling it "Hako 1" makes sense, especially after the "Hako 0" moniker. It makes more sense than going from "Xbox 360" to "Xbox One".
From what people are saying online in Japan, it sounds like the Xbox One isn't exactly hitting the ground running. There's long been this notion in the West that Japanese people don't buy foreign goods.
That's not true. They tend buy the goods that they think are the best, whether they are foreign or Japanese. The Xbox 360 is a fine console, but it never really caught on in Japan. Perhaps, it was the line-up or games or perhaps it was the sinking feeling Japanese gamers had that Microsoft didn't really care about the Japanese market.
http://anago.2ch.net/test/read.cgi/ghard/1369158822/
http://news.ameba.jp/20130522-106/
looks like the console is confirmed for Japan
http://www.famitsu.com/news/201305/22033659.html