Hey all,
Was wondering if any of you had any suggestions for some GOOD Japanese DS games that are out in Japan but not here in the USA. 

It would be a gift for my girlfriends nephew who is 6.  So ideally a game that doesn't require lots of Japanese reading and something that would be good for a 6 year old.  I think it would be a very interesting and unexpected gift!  And the kids on the block would go nuts that he has a game you cant buy at your local Best Buy

The two Ouendan games are definitely at the top of my list for import-friendly DS games.  Not really sure how a 6 year old would fare with rhythm games, though.

Outside of the two Ouendan games, there honestly aren't very many Japanese DS titles worth importing -- a testament, perhaps, to how well the game companies have kept up with localizing all of their good stuff.

Though Ouendan features an Easy mode, the games may still be a tough sell to a six year old.  Assuming I'm not short-changing the kid, the games are rigidly challenging; even when one grasps the concept of the gameplay, it doesn't tolerate failure.  To seasoned gamers, they're surmountable challenges - to a tyke, they may serve only to frustrate.  (Which is to say, you and the Miss are more likely to have a ball with the games than he would.)

If I were to throw a more feasible import into the ring, it would be Taiko no Tatsujin DS: Touch de Dokodon.  Though there still some tricky nuances to the gameplay, there's also far more room for error.  You don't have to be nearly as precise as Ouendan, and it's just fun to rap on the screen with a pair of stylus.

My TRUE recommendation for young DS gamers, though, would be WarioWare Touched!  It's not a Japanese import (unless you want to be a purist and get its JP counterpart Sawaru Made in Wario), but time and time again I've bounced this off of kids five and up - my niece, my cousins, my friends' children - and they all had a ball with it.  My cousins can go for hours just mastering one microgame over and over again; I still can't get over how they've earned scores up to nearly 100 on some of them when I can barely break 40 myself.

Shonen Jump Ultmate Stars
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4U2LTyU1O2Y

Try this one out. Is DS Smash Bros using all the different Shonen Jump Characters. Notable anime it pulls from are Fist of the North Star, One Piece, DBZ, Yu Yu Hakosho, Naruto, Bobobo and others.

It truly is a blast.

I also second

Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan

it Japanese Elite Beat Agents except instead of Beyonce and David Bowie you have lots of J Pop.

Wow guys thank you for the suggestions!  This Jump Ultimate Stars game looks like the best contender here!  No American release huh?

One question, I found out the parents have their sons DSi locked from playing any game that's not rated E.  Parental control feature i guess.  How would this effect playing Japanese DS games and specifically this game as I am interested in getting him this title!  From what I can see there's no rating system in Japan for DS games.

Thanks

There is.  They use CERO:

http://www.ign.com/cero.html

Not owning a DSi, though, I'm uncertain as to how parental controls would affect the playback of imports.

what about Goemon DS?

(which would totally not work for a 6 year old)

So I decided to check this out to find out how it works.  According to the first screen for activating parental controls, it "does not work with Nintendo DS software," which means I assume it only works with DSi software, which means that the parental controls are relevant for... one or two games, tops?  Anyway, just for the heck of it I set my DSi to only allow E rated games and plugged in the only non-CERO A Japanese game that I have - Gyakuten Saiban 3 (CERO B) and it played just fine.