WebOS actually ships with Node.js: http://developer.palm.com/index.php?id=2109&option=com_c...

Would be cool if Google did the same

Since the V8 JavaScript engine runs on ARM, is there something about the Android environment that prevents running node.js directly?

Or you could run node.js on a phone that doesn't need to be rooted

/webos

i dont see japan on this list http://www.palm.com/intl/

but then again i do see australia but i have never seen a modern palm device here.

They made some pretty bad decisions early on by not having a good international network. The pre plus and pre2 are available locked and unlocked on different GSM carriers so I don't see why it wouldn't be available in Australia or Japan.