The new, free TV service is region locked, even on Japanese consoles.
Players who imported their 3DS from Japan are unable to view the new exclusive TV shows from Fuji TV, as the SpotPass TV application is region-locked to only those within the Land of the Rising Sun, according to a report by SiliconEra.
The report states that videos that are ad-supported by Nintendo themselves are fine to watch, but any Fuji TV-created content will bring up an error stating that the movie cannot be watched due to the international location of the device.
The eShop still connects to the region native to where the console was made, and Japanese titles can still be downloaded on a Japanese 3DS from anywhere in the world.