No word of any 3G as you’d expect, but clearly no one would expect Apple to go after Japan without it – after all, the country stopped taking shipments of 2G phones earlier this year.

Out of all the markets Apple has gone for with the iPhone, it’ll be Japan that should prove the biggest test. Blisteringly fast network speeds and clever apps aren’t exactly new over there. Still, Apple’s still got a big iPod fan base in the land of the rising sun – we’ll have to wait and see if that will translate into mobile sales though.

Unsuprisingly, it’s web based services that will receive the bulk of the attention, including widgets that should be compatible with any handset or operating system.

The choice of partners looks to be interesting one – one operator from Japan, a country pretty much one of the most established and cutting edge in terms of mobile development and China, still a relatively new market but with lots of room from growth, and one all the established players have got their eye on. Hopefully there’ll be some intriguing applications coming out of this old mobile world-new mobile world collaboration – that is, if they can find something that appeal to users on low end handsets with slow connections equally well as speedy networks and high-end devices. After all, web browsing has proved far more popular for high end device – perhaps widgets will give operators a way to get in at the lower end.

According to the paper, DoCoMo is trying to get the disputed device withdrawn from sale, after the operator and its partner Fujitsu filed a request for an injunction with a local court. A number of reports say DoCoMo believes the Softbank mobile looks like its own range of devices targeting older users, with easy-to-read menus.

After February saw the start of a price war in the country, it looks like the Japanese market is only getting tougher.