Hi guys, I haven't posted on this forum in while, though I've been around for quite a bit and frequent the forums on a weekly basis.  I'm moving from NYC to Japan in a couple weeks to teach English for a year and I'll be taking my Wii U with me, so I got a couple Qs.

1.  Can I play online with people in Japan?  I don't know the full extent of what region locking is or how it applies to certain games.  If someone could provide a brief synopsis of what it is and basic things that it affects that would be greatly appreciated.  I know that some games have slight differences depending on where they are released like Smash 64 and Small Melee having slighty different characteristics so if those gamese did have online functionality it would be impossible across certain regions.

2.  Can I play Japanese games on my American Wii U?  Luckily I've actually only downloaded games onto my system with the acception of Nintendo Land and NSMBWU.

3.  Anything thing I might not be thinking of that this will affect?  Miiverse, TVii, etc...?

FORGOT TO ADD:

4. I imagine all these questions apply equally toward my 2DS as well.  Technically I have my Nintendo ID.  Perhaps I can sell all this hardware and then buy the Japanese hardware and then use my Nintendo ID on that new hardware.  Thoughts?  I may only consider doing that with my 2DS.

1) Not sure
2) Nope, region locks :(
3) Not sure

Sorry, I'm not much help.

1) Yes, fought several people from Japan in Tekken Tag Tournament 2 (Player Cards)
2) No
3) I haven't seen any non English posts on Miiverse, so probably (I registered under UK)

What exactly are player Cards?

Your Nintendo ID is locked to your hardware. It isn't like your Windows Live Account or PSN Account which you can easily use on a new machine and activate the new machine and download your past digital purchases again.

The 3DS and Wii U are both region locked, so you wont be able to use games bought in Japan on your US based original hardware. But you will be able to use eShop to access new US based games and purchase/download and then use them.

Basically the profile of your opponent. You can view them after you win or lose a round. Has a bunch of info including region, have had several JPN (With the Japanese flag) profiles.

Thanks guys for the answers, I appreciate it. One thing I am curious to see is whether Nintendo will fix these issues. It sounds like Nintendo is finally beginning to change on a lot of these policies.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't it in Nintendo's best interest for me to easily move around my Nintendo ID? Lets say a new cooler DS comes out and I want. Nintendo should make it easy for me to give them my money for that new system...

Also, is region locking purely so that Nintendo can keep better track of sales for specific regions? Is it purely a statistics thing or is there a more calculated purpose that I'm not aware of (I imagine there is)?

I don't think TVii, Hulu, or Netflix will work overseas.

Miiverse and the eshop will not be affected.

Edit: In regard to region lock, you cannot play Japanese Wii U, Wii and 3DS games. You will however be able to play Japanese DS games on your 2DS.

Ninty should immediately ditch region lock. In portables it's totally dumb, and in Wii U it's just another small but unnecessary obstacle. Western players fond of countless Japanese games that won't ever be ported outside of their homeland may be a little niche, but one with very high attach rate, it would be a small but very welcome help for Wii U.

You can choose whether or not you see other languages on Miiverse. I had to turn Japan off on Nintendo Land because there were so many, Plus somebody said it was responsible for the game freezing early on. An they were right. Game hadn't frozen since.