According to the DualSHOCKERS translation of a report by Tsutaya, the largest retail chain in Japan, Hyrule Warriors is selling well in the land of the rising sun. It seems to have boosted sales of Wii U software to nearly four times what it was at this time last year, in spite of the Obon period typically being a slow time for gaming sales in the country.

Even better news for Nintendo, and their fans, is that sales of Wii U consoles also rose sharply over this period, which is a good sign considering how dead the Japanese home console market has been in recent times. With a strong lineup of games to come over the the remainder of the year, sales only look to get better for the big N.

Since the release of Mario Kart 8, the outlook for the much maligned Wii U has become much less bleak. Building on the momentum of Mario Kart 8 and the stellar showing at E3 is an important step in the process of bringing Nintendo back to relevance this generation, and Hyrule Warriors is the first major Wii U release since May. Hopefully, the encouraging numbers from Japan translate well to the Western market.