Microsoft’s newest operating system launched in Japan this morning, and there was no shortage of dorks on hand for the festivities:

Hundreds of people braved chilly weather in Tokyo on Monday night and the early hours of Tuesday to be among the first in the world to buy a retail copy of the Windows Vista operating system.

Major electronics retailers across the city and specialist PC retailers in the electronics mecca of Akihabara were open at midnight to sell the first copies.

At Tsukumo Denki in Akihabara a crowd of about 200 people had built up around 10 p.m. in anticipation of the launch. An equally large line of people queued at the nearby Yodobashi Camera store, which is Japan’s largest electronics store.

Outside Bic Camera in the Yurakucho district of Tokyo a couple of hundred people also waited. Some were there to buy Vista and others appeared to be office workers on the way home who had stopped to take in the scene and watch the comedy duo the store had hired to entertain those waiting.

Here are a few pictures from the launch, via Yahoo Japan:

Update: A couple more pictures…