My experience is that prices in Japan are way higher than in the US, even for Japanese products. I bought something at the Sony store two years ago and found it was twice (yes, twice) what the price was in the US. I love to visit the electronics stores and the prices are always way higher. I imagine with the strength of the yen right now that the price differential is even worse.

And, AFAIK, Canon will honor warranties only for the countries in which the product was purchased. I'd certainly want to be absolutely sure that if I buy an expensive product that the warranty was valid at home. (I have lots of Canon products and have never had a problem with any of them, but I'd err on the side of caution.)