Perhaps it should have been expected as the importance of Sony's home market, especially when it comes to stationary consoles, has dwindled for years, but it's still somewhat shocking that PlayStation 4 won't be released in Japan this year. Sony confirmed during a press conference this morning that the PS4 will launch on February 22 in Japan. Compared that to the European launch date (November 29) and it's a complete reversal of what they did for PS Vita.
Sony explains the move stating they needed more time localising the launch titles to Japanese (there are very few Japanese titles announced for PS4 and next-gen at this point in time), and that the first consoles will come with a free download code for Knack.