Imported game question

There is a game that I wanna import from japan, but i need a few questions to be cleared up for me.

1) Does a Japanese PS2 games work on the American PS2 system?

2) If so, does it use the same type of memory card? If not, how could I get it to work?

3) Does the Amarican ActionReplay Max work for imported games, if so, is it the Euro site on codejunkies?

isn't PS2 region locked?

If so, *** games won't work on a US PS2.