In title.

Or do I have to obtain it through "legal" means?

There is a converter in the 'Resources'-section that you can use. The readme should explain how to use it.

http://www.speedrun.com/gtavc/resources

Still no word on whether that is actually accurate

zoton's converter gives you a 1:1 copy of the japanese version folder with the no-cd exe

Great, as soon as I go to install it, my VC stops working with the bloody unhandled exception error. SA crashes as soon as I open it, and VC plain just doesn't work.

try to delete (or just move) your gta_vc.set

Is there a possibility to convert the ps2 game in japanese ?