Importing a New 3DS from Japan (to NA)

I live in the U.S. and ever since Nintendo showed off the New 3DS (standard size) my hype level for the system was at max. I'm a huge fan of handheld gaming and, from a design perspective, the standard new 3DS looked like the greatest handheld console ever created to me. I've been holding out for it in the U.S. (even after it was confirmed we were only getting the XL) and am finally sucking it up and importing it from Japan. These recent comments from Reggie are what pushed me to finally import and give up on waiting:

"We analyzed the results in Japan and saw the lion's share of the volume was on the XL model, and that's with no 2DS existing in the Japanese market. And so as we thought about: 'What's the best line-up for us?' We thought the new XL and 2DS would be our best line-up. Not going to make any promises but, you know, I would suggest to your readers that they stay tuned and maybe some special SKUs might show up."

http://www.nintendolife.com/news/2015/06/reggie_fils-aime_hints_at_smaller_new_nintendo_3ds_for_north_america

I know some are taking these comments as a hint that the standard model might be coming at some point, but to me they say the exact opposite, that we are never getting the console here in the U.S. Different SKU's could literally mean anything (limited art 3DS XL's or even mere new game bundles) and to me E3 was the last chance I saw for a big announcement that the standard model was coming stateside. With E3 past, the NX incoming, and this very vague, empty, response from Reggie, I am done waiting and importing.

So my question is to any U.S. players that play on a Japanese 3DS. Are your games compatible for local play with NA 3DS systems/games? Do you have any issues with online play and accessing the eShop on your console in America for updates and DLC? Can you add NA users to your friend list on your Japanese 3DS? If you had a prior NA NNID, were you able to retrieve it on your Japanese 3DS? Any other tips for owning a Japanese 3DS in NA?

Any insight into this is greatly appreciated, thanks.

@kenakuma: I dont have all your answers, but i might can help some. It seems if you have a Japanese 3DS in America you will have to use the Japanese eShop, which it seems they do accept foreign credit cards. Also as long as you have wifi you should be able to access the Japanese SpotPass to get your updates etc.

Scratch all that, during searching for info to help i found the perfect thread for you. Check out this thread made by kubus, its pretty sweet and i think will have all the info plus more that will help you in your decision.

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=888731

I don't see why NoA should ever release the standard N3DS here. If they did it when they released the XL, sure, but they didn't. Thing is, I'm a forward-looking kind of guy, and I figure at best the 3DS has a solid 2 years left before Nintendo officially replaces it with something else. It seems pointless to me for Nintendo to release YET ANOTHER version of the 3DS this late in the game. Instead, they should put some money and effort into developing other N3DS exclusive games, since right now Xenoblade is the only one out there.

@Ovirew: I agree that this version of the 3DS will be the last. It's pretty much perfect. It's the DSi of the 3DS generation. I hope though that this console lasts at least 2 more years. Why move onto something else when developers can continue making great games for this great piece of hardware? In my perfect world Nintendo would release the successor sometime in 2018.