Yes you can.
I have the JPN ceramic white PS3--I bought a couple Xmas ago from Play-asia--and it all good when it comes to blu-rays as Japan, America (North), and Hong Kong are all on the same blu-ray region A. So vice versa, if you got a PS3 from the States, then it would play Japanese blu-rays.
However, be aware!! The strict DVD region-coding is still in effect on all PS3s and their respective regions; so if you get PS3 from a region other than the one you live in and still own/buy DVDs that are from where you live it WILL BE
INCOMPATIBLE--unless the discs are region All/'0' (which will work fine on any PS3 just as they do with DVD players). So unless you already got a region-free DVD (I had one before I got my PS3 anyway for all the Japanese/Asian films and anime that I watch so the choice was no big deal for me), or be prepared to buy one b/c at the time there is no crack/hack/mod that break the PS3 region-free (like you can do with most DVD players via a remote hack).
Check
here to get an idea of the regions that country belongs to. Hope that helps ya!
