In the good old US of A the iPhone is reserved for elite folk. It may not be the truth with the iPhone’s recent price reductions but it certainly is perception and perception is reality. Well the reality in Japan must be that the iPhone just isn’t that good, because they are offering the darn thing for FREE!

Softbank Mobile, the exclusive carrier for the iPhone in Japan, is launching a promotion from Friday that will last until May where new subscribers can purchase get the 8GB iPhone for free with a 2 year contract! But wait, there’s more! No, it isn’t a set of steak knives to go with your new hibachi grill, it’s the  16GB model discounted from $350 to $118 and data plans being cut from $62 to $45.60.

Any AT&T customers jealous?

[Softbank Mobile via CrunchGear]