Nintendo DS lite

Okay I'm planning on getting a DS soon but I have a few questions.

Are they bilingual like ipods? Or is it only one language, so if I buy it in Japan it's only in Japanese?

If I buy it in Japan can I charge it in the states, or vice versa? Without a transformer. I know things like computers run fine on different voltage but I don't know about cheaper electronics.

Can I play both japanese and american games on it? Or are they "region coded".

FYI I live in Japan so I prefer to just buy it here, but most of the games I'm interested in are from the states.

Sorry I don't have a complete answer for you. What I do know is, my DS lite asked me what language I wanted when I first powered it on (had more options then just english or japanese) and I know of someone who has a JP Wii (not a DS but also a nintendo platform) who couldn't get his American copy of My Sims to play in English.
Hopefully someone with a real answer will come to your rescue soon.

Would it play the game at all? or just not in english?

Yeah, it would play the game but only with Japanese text.
I've had many games with both sets of language data, but they've always given me a choice. Strange.

I can answer all your questions.

I recently bought one myself.

You can charge your card, but it depends on what store you go to. I'm assuming you're going to Tokyo, so if you go to Akihabara's Yodabashi Camera, you'll be able to get a DS, a few games and charge it on your card.

When you first turn on your DS, it will be initially in Japanese. But after you have your presets ready, you can change the language to English. Get a Japanese friend to help of course, if you can't read Japanese.

I'm pretty sure you can play American DS games without any problem, since it isn't a CD. The reason why I think this is also because my friend downloads DS games from the internet and saves them to a Mirco SD without any trouble. But of course, if you buy a game in Japan, it's going to be in Japanese.

My DS plays all the games (both Japanese and US)just fine (I have a US one) however, i was not able to download extras for my games (US games) while in Japan. It was due to the game, and not the system. Just be warned.

"My DS plays all the games (both Japanese and US)just fine (I have a US one) however, i was not able to download extras for my games (US games) while in Japan. It was due to the game, and not the system. Just be warned."

You mean it wont let you do it because you are using a Japanese IP address?

No. For example: we had the US version of Pokemon and the US system. We went to a download station to download extras for the game. We received an error message saying that it was not compatible with the US game only the Japanese games.