Time to learn Japanese

Today I put on my wizard hat and make some guesses about some Japanese exclusive 3DS games. It seems like there are entirely too many awesome games that are not scheduled to, or will never make it the US. Aside from importing these games, because of region blocks, Nintendo fans have been moderately successful in petitioning developers and publishers to take a risk on the American audience.

Does it have to come to that every time? With the eShop doesn't that cut most of the costs of localization? They wouldn't have to worry about packaging and shipping, and at the very least they could do was add English subtitles and menus. I have no idea how hard it is to localize a game. It make no sense to keep games that other audiences will enjoy locked up in Japan.