Just like the iPhone, it took a while to reach Japanese shores, but now Android finally goes Nippon as well. The country’s largest telecommunications company, NTT, has picked up the rights to distribute the first mobile phone that uses the Android OS in Japan.

The phone is made by HTC and will be marketed as a relatively inexpensive model among NTT’s vast lineup of ultra-shiny phones, with prices starting from less than $300 based on a two-year contract. NTT will allow users to send and receive emails through their proprietary mobile web ecosystem i-mode. This means NTT subscribers won’t have to switch email addresses once they decide to ditch their current phone for the HTC.

Alternatively, the Android phone, rumored to be the HTC Magic pictured, can be bought without a contract for $500 to $600. NTT itself hasn’t confirmed all details but scheduled a press conference for May 19th, which they will broadcast on the web, too, here [JP].

Via CNET Japan [JP]