Hey, remember back when Apple retail store openings were new? People would flock from hundreds-- even thousands-- of miles around and wait in line for days on end just to check out each store on its first day open to the public. Of course, that sort of enthusiasm wilted as time passed; as veterans of six or seven grand openings ourselves, we can state unequivocally that there's been a steep dropoff in craziness at the events as more and more stores open up. Sure, people still line up; we're willing to bet that even the Apple Store North Point in Alpharetta, Georgia will get a few dozen diehards waiting in line bright and early when it opens its doors this Saturday. But somehow we doubt that anyone's going to fly in from Finland and establish base camp outside the store three days ahead of time, getting their sustenance from wild berries and grubs native to the local mall ecosystem. (Well, and maybe Arby's, in a pinch.)

But as it turns out, all you need to do to recapture the insane zeal of the first Apple store openings is open one in another country. Faithful viewer Michael Causton forwarded us a JapanConsuming article which reports that when Japan's first Apple retail store opened at 10 AM yesterday, there was a staggering crowd of 5,500 people waiting to get in. Apparently the guy first in line showed up on Friday afternoon at 4 PM-- all the way from Berkeley, California. (Note to Mr. First-In-Line-San: there are seventy-something stores in this country, you know, including sixteen in your home state; Emeryville's probably only about fifteen minutes away. No need to fly to Japan whenever you need to pick up a five-pack of blank DVDs.) Apple has posted a nifty photo gallery of the five-floor store, with pictures of the place both before and after it got mobbed by over five thousand drooling Mac freaks. Seriously crazy stuff.

Of course, eventually the enthusiasm will die down over there, too, once Apple opens enough stores; according to MacMinute, Apple told journalists in Tokyo that it would open a second retail store in Osaka next year, so this is just the beginning. But it should be a good long while before Japanese Mac fans get as jaded as we are with the whole retail grand opening thing-- and besides, they still get to go through all the iTunes Music Store excitement, too. Faithful viewer David Triska notes that MacRumors references a new item at Asahi.com pertaining to news about the iTMS touching down in the Land of the Rising Sun: we weren't having much luck with Babelfish, for some reason, so we used Sherlock's translation function to unearth a little meaning. (Apparently Steve is Apple's "highest management patsy." That's good stuff.)

So here's the relevant bit of the article, as translated by Sherlock: "In Japan and starting the apple and music transmission service in 04: The apple the Japanese record company and the like which receives the offer of music and while negotiating, after acquiring the aim of offer, starts service." Which, if you stare at it long enough, clearly means that Apple is negotiating terms with Japanese record labels, and once an agreement is set, the iTunes Music Store will launch in Japan next year. Of course, if you stare at it a bit longer, it instead starts to look like a command from the Dark Prince of the Netherworld to bite the head off a bat while listening to Black Sabbath backwards and playing Dungeons & Dragons, so we definitely recommend that you look away once you get the basic gist of the whole record label negotiating thing, because the bat thing could get messy.

So Japan's going through Retail Mania and will soon experience iTMS Frenzy, as well. The bottom line? If you're looking for a new thrill in the form of an old thrill, hey, there are worse ways to blow your frequent flyer miles...