"Companies or individuals that have a permanent postal address in Japan are eligible for registration of 2nd level, i.e., General-Use JP Domain Name.
3rd level name under CO.JP may be applied by the companies incorporated with official registration in Japan. Non-Japanese corporations registered in Japan as "Gaikoku Kaisha (Foreign Company)" may also apply for a CO.JP domain name. "
"Any individual, group or organization having a permanent postal address in Japan is eligible for registration of General-Use JP Domain Name.
Please consult a JP Registrar for details."
I have experience with .jp names. There are residency requirements, although there are proxy services. jp-domains is very expensive, however for someone who doesn’t have an address in Japan and can’t read Japanese it may be your best option.
primacomputer is right..you need to know Japanese to visit some alternative pricings, but in the meantime www.jp-domains.com is your cheapest option for a site written in English. It is the site now most used by NP members I think.