@ Laffer )

Those connection problems sound more like problems with your ISP or your router to me.
I can connect to the japanese Home from germany without any problems, so there shouldn't be a problem to do so vice versa.

And really, you can't expect jpn game versions to have english or german language options. I expect over 99% of the games on other consoles to be only in japanese, while for the PS3 it might only be ~80%.
If you want english language then import the "asian" versions from Hong Kong (they might even be less expensive than the jpn versions).

BTW, if you want to/have to live in Japan for several years I think you really should learn the ~2000 joyo kanji (and ofcourse Hiragana/Katakana). Being able to read is a very important skill in every countries society. I personally currently am learning them and memorized about 500 of them within a month with the system introduced by J. W. Heisig.

It really must be something either exclusively Japanese or something with the ISP. At least there are no such problems with my online sessions and I'm playing on a US console with an EU account, to US, EU and Japanese servers (as well as able to access both shops and home with the appropriate account).

On another note, PS3 PSU is universal, you don't need a transformer.

1. You don't need the power transformer.
2. It seems your PS3 games would work fine in any SCEE or SCEA territory. I would consider the possibility of your ISP causing the problem. (that SCEI is special)
3. Don't complain about Japanese games being in Japanese -- what do you expect?
4. If you owned a 360 or Wii you would need to import games with the risk of them also not being able to go online. Its hard for you to complain when the PS3 is the best console for moving to other regions with.

Your explanation sounds more like issues with your ISP or network. What type of Nat is your PS3 displaying when you run the test?

Because the cheerleaders tell them to be.

Is the PSU really universal? I have the Europe Launch version (60 GB with PS2 Compat.) and it reads on the backside 230 V... Nothing with 100 - 250V...

I do not want to break the PSU...

@People talking about the region free aspects
You should probably try reading the OP again. He is importing his games from German due to language issues already. The other consoles would be the exact same for him on that front. It is also entirely irrelevant to the main problem here.

How good is your connection? It seems extremely weird to me that they would intentionally boot you off their network just for having a different region. If possible try to get a friend/co-worker to connect his/her Japanese PS3 to the internet using your set-up and see what happens. It might be as simple as a misconfigured network.

.I do believe they are all universal. I have the US 80Gb (the one with partial B/C) and I was quite worried about plugging it in without a transformer, it read 110V only.

Long story short after googling the model number I did end up on some Russian site that listed it as tested universal and it all went well (and all the listed models were alledegly tested and proven universal).

You should give SONY a call.

I tried. On 100V the Console does not boot at all.... PAL (60B) Console PSU seems not universal...