OK. I have some time, I speak Japanese and I have opinions (if not answers) to some of the questions.
> Are there Japanese 'noobs' who stand at the auction houses and ask for gil?
Nope. Not that I've seen. Except for Jueno I don't see Japanese people shouting much at all (except for LS invites).
> Has the game been out so long in Japan that there are no "new" players?
Kind of. There are some lower level Japanese, but it's kind of rough for them. They don't speak english and they can't find people to form parties or meet people as easily. Imagine being on a Server that was entirely Japanese players, OR over 60th English players (and busy with their own thing).
Its an unfriendly gaming environment if you're looking to have a chilled out good time.
(I am not saying English language players don't make an effort. I've seen tremendous effort on both sides over the month or so that I've been playing. But even in parties with multiple bilinguals it is pretty exhausting for mono lingual folks.)
[And there are all those yutzes with Asswhupper pisses in <t>'s mouth /emotes wandering around. If you speak English you know enough to tell "emotionally underdeveloped loser"... /blist add. The "the internet is a place you go to release your id in a way that would be unacceptable anywhere else" attitude doesn't seem to have taken root here.]
In addition the market is very mature.
Broadband penetration is pretty high (this wasn't so true a few years ago) and the game has been out for well over a year. Square seems to be squarely focused (sorry ;), on the existing player base. While that's a good thing (I think) the lack of expansions, etc. limits the press the game is going to get domestically.
> How come I never see level 8 and lower unsubbed japanese players?
I think it's the "leveling up too fast to notice" responce.
I've known a few people and they've generally been rockets.
Lots of Japanese LSs litterally /shout when they're accepting people. The one I joined was in Bastok but in Jueno I think I see several a day.
If they join an LS everybody is rediculously high level*, so the quests that you spend a lot of time on people just help you with. When I joined my LS (level 9 white mage) they told me in no uncertain terms that they weren't really gonna help me and it was for chatting and partying.
But at the end of the day if they ask "why don't you have your sub-job quest yet?" and you say "because I'm an idiot and right when I finished the Selbina quest I accepted the Mhura one" someones like "I'm sick of crafting..." and offers to teleport out to help you.
By comparison most English language LSs reflect the distribution of English language speakers... that means lots of lower level characters. Which means a lot more people with a demand for help and a lot less people with the ability to supply that help.
*=It took me a while to realize that everyone on my list has one class above 60. Even the people leveling their "lower level" characters are in their 40s.