I was reading over at Play-Asia.com that Japanese and US Wii accessories like the remote and nunchuk should work on either region’s Wii consoles. I found this out via a NintendoWorldReport post after a lot of searching. A certain travelling teacher not going to hell may be able to get controllers and nunchuks before returning to the States for a holiday visit.
Just to confirm for other ask-mark readers: Japanese controlers DO in fact work on American Wii consoles. My friend brought one back from the States recently and bought controls and nunchucks from DenDen Town and they work fine.