I just picked up my Wii from GameStop and the manager told me that the Wii Play and Remote bundle is coming to America on January 16 (or thereabouts; I don't remember the exact date) for $49.99. This is the first I've heard of the bundle leaving Japan.
BTW, I tried to submit this new to NWR but received an error message
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User mailbox exceeds allowed size: z.arushan@mail.planetgamecube.com