"Even in the Japanese original version, we have not included any features which are considered inappropriate in Japan," a representative for Nintendo told us.
Nintendo referred to its decision to remove the petting minigame itself as a not "unusual" change for the localization. Just as in the Japanese version, the player's relationship with their teammate improves after the truncated scene. What does remain, however, are the status bonuses accrued by getting intimate with a party member. The animations involved in that interaction are left intact, but the actual tactile portion has been eliminated, just as Nintendo previously announced. The upcoming American release does this a bit differently. This launches into a cutscene which, in the Japanese edition of the latest Fire Emblem games, involved interacting with the chosen teammate, touching their face by using the touchscreen. Upon entering, the protagonist chooses which person he or she would like to spend more time with, which then invites them to join you.
To elaborate: In both versions of Fire Emblem Fates, players have the option to visit their team members in their personal private quarters. Check out the footage from our recent livestream above to see our discovery in action. We delved into the localized version of the upcoming Nintendo 3DS game to see what Nintendo replaced petting (also known as "skinship") with. Nintendo confirmed that Western Fire Emblem Fatesplayers won't be able to pet or rub their teammates' faces, but that doesn't mean the feature is gone altogether.