Should I buy an AM/FM tuner from Japan?

Only if you are happy listening to just 2 MHz of our 88 – 108 MHz FM band!

Japan has a different FM band frequency allocation – 76 – 90 MHz, compared to the 88 – 108 MHz FM band of Australasia, Europe and North America. That means that with a Japanese FM tuner, you’ll have a tiny 2 MHz overlap and only be able to listen to stations operating at 88 – 90 MHz.

You’ll be lucky if you can pick up one station in that slice, and this generally cannot be changed without complex front-end changes that make the process not viable.