Yakuza 5 is in a pretty tight situation: despite originally seeing the release back in 2012 December in Japan – scoring the maximum forty points in the process by the Famitsu magazine, which doesn’t happen that often -, the fans of the series were not able to play the game worldwide, unless they imported a copy for themselves. However, it was already announced that Yakuza 5 will receive a localisation, although it will only be out in digital format.

This is most likely a test to see if there’s a need for Yakuza Zero outside Japan. which might also be translated to English. (Don’t expect Ishin, one of the Japanese PS4 launch titles to be localized, as it is based upon the historical events of the Meiji Restoration.)
The interview tells us the reason of this huge delay: the game was originally aimed at adult Japanese players with several references that only they can understand. Therefore, the script had to be „westernized”. Still, it’s unlikely that we will be disappointed in the end…