MacRumors.com

SoftBank Mobile Corp announced today that they have signed an agreement with Apple for the iPhone "later this year":

SOFTBANK MOBILE Corp. today announced it has signed an agreement with Apple® to bring the iPhone to Japan later this year.

SoftBank Mobile is a 3G only carrier which, of course, further confirms the existence of a 3G iPhone. Like all of the recent international press releases, they offer no additional details on the agreement.

DoCoMo was previously rumored to be in talks with Apple to bring the iPhone to Japan. This announcement does not necessarily preclude an agreement with them, as in some instances multiple carriers have announced iPhone support in the same region.

Apple is widely expected to introduce a 3G capable iPhone at WWDC next week.