Japan has always been pretty tight with copyright laws -- long before the unfortunate events of recent times. Everything I've ever seen or purchased in Japan has been legit. I did once purchase a PlayStation controller that was manufactured by a 3rd party -- I'm sure we have them in Australia too. They're not made by the manufacturer of the console (e.g. Sony), but they're simply made to be compatible with their consoles. The words "Sony" or "PlayStation" doesn't appear anywhere on the packaging, and the design is distinctly different from a PS control. It just happens to be a cheaper compatible product. But that would be the most legally dubious thing I've ever seen in Japan.

I know that KOs do exist in Japan, because I know of at least one Japanese Transfan who purchased some... but they're not easy to find. I think this dude bought his KOs at a convention - and he bought it for the novelty because he'd never seen KOs before (they were really obviously fake KOs (undersized)).