It probably will be a painful wait, but it'll be a more painful wait for us over in Australia and/or Europe just waiting for the *box* while you lot get the pleasure of getting as far as the system update >_> unless there's a worldwide release excluding Japan? (I can dream...)
But yes, it would be incredibly frustrating to wait so I'd just flick through the manual (drooling on it most likely, mind you) while I wait. Unlike many I actually enjoy the images and even, yes, concept art (for all you sticker-haters).
I remember when I did the update for Galaxy but just as the update finished I knocked a cable without knowing it and lost the sound. Initially I was worried Galaxy had killed my Wii/TV's sound (Yes, I wasn't in a very logic mindset at the time). Then again... in space, no one can hear you scream... or yell at the bad television cables (oh puns, bad jokes, and overused lines... how I love you
).