Japanese iPod, European use?

[Gamer_s]

So, a friend of mine i going to Japan, and I was thinkin of sending with him some money for a little Akihabra shopping

I live in Sweden, so the iPod video is about $100 more expensive here. So does anyone know if the price point in Japan is the same (or at all similar) to that in th US i.e $299?

And would I be able to do a firmwareupdate in the JP iPod to a US or EU firmware?

Thanks in advance!