That too.

I bought a bunch of out-of-print Japanese Wizardry games when I visited Akihabara last October.

They're still sitting in shrinkwrap and I will never open or play them, unless by some miracle a cinder block falls from the sky and knocks me in the head and I'd suddenly be able to understand Japanese. The point is, I can only hope some Japanese gamer out there is feeling frustration at having to take slightly longer to find copies of these specific games -- the exact same frustration I feel when trying to find copies of a game from a franchise that they took from us and rarely shared. The only time Japan ever did a proper Wizardry game was Tale of the Forsaken Land, and that's only because the gameplay still felt more or less like a proper Wizardry, and also the game's artist, Katsuya Terada, always strived to emulate superior French science fiction and fantasy artists instead of the ugly anime/manga style of his homeland.

Anyway, I'd nevertheless be surprised and disappointed if it turned out that Sir-Tech handed over the rights of the original eight games over to the Japanese companies. I thought they only had rights to make their own original Wizardry games, separate from the Western originals.

Yes, but the legal hurdles they have to overcome are many, so don't hold your breath.