Harry Potter is taking the world by storm….from Britain to the United States to China and back…with a short stop in Japan.

At 8:01am Tokyo time stores opened to begin selling the seventh volume - Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. A radio deejay's countdown did nothing to drum up excitement.

Just 180 people (that's all?) had reserved the seventh book.

Problem is not the spoilers that have come out. Nor that the spoilers were true.

What's different about Japan is that unlike in China where students will struggle through the English translation, Japanese will wait….months… for a translation to come out.

And the publishing date for the seventh volume hasn't even been announced yet. Too much debate on how to say

Muggle in Japanese, maybe?

The Chinese will get their official translation around October.

The Japanese aren't in a hurry and to be sure may not even be interested in the Japanese version.

The number of prints has decreased each time a volume has come out, according to Seizansha Publications - the first volume Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone hit 5.06 million copies. 

The sixth volume sold about 2 million.

Something 'lost in translation- maybe? 

I know one Japanese-American (reads both languages) who is a fan of Harry Potter, but NOT such that he lined up or reserved a book. He'll get around to it when the time comes, he says. He's my son.

Harry Potter's magic just isn't quite so powerful in Japan.

Why do you think that is?