For the hard drive, you can replace it with a 2.5" SATA (basically a laptop HDD) drive fairly easily. There are plenty of guides, some even published by PlayStation themselves. A lot of PS3s started to move towards the 250 gb or 500 gb range, so that should be plenty for your needs. 1+ tb drives are nice, but you really don't "need" them.
For games, Mass Effect 2 is an excellent version of that game and Mass Effect 3 I believe was identical across the board. (Some of those games may have come on multiple 360 discs, but I can't remember the specifics now). Mass Effect 1 was ported later and the trilogy is now available in a collection, which I assume you can get in Japan.
Red Dead Redemption is a solid choice. That's a pretty great game.
I never made it that far into Ni No Kuni (not because of the game's quality, more on my part than anything else), but people who have played it to completion seem to really love it.
A lot of the games I would recommend have eventually jumped ship. Valkyria Chronicles is one of my favorite PS3 games...which you can also get on PC and PS4. The Last of Us is one of my all time favorite games...which is even better on PS4 with The Last of Us Remastered.
Here are a few noteworthy games I would mention that haven't made it to other platforms:
Tales of Graces F: I wasn't planning on it, but I sure played the hell out of this game. I got the platinum trophy, invested 150+ hours between the main game, the new game+, and all of the side content. Not the greatest of JRPG stories, but it is a really fun game. There is also Tales of Xillia 1 and 2, but I only finished Graces.
Catherine: A great puzzle game, with a lot of style, and a pretty entertaining story.
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