Playing import PS2 games – best method?

I desperately want to play the Japanese PS2 remake of Tales of Destiny since unfortunately Namco isn’t very kind to the US market. I’m curious as to which method you prefer for playing imported games. I’ve only barely started looking into it so I admittedly don’t know very much, but I have seen mentioned a swap disc and a mod chip (though I’m not sure I’m entirely comfortable dealing with hardware like that…). I also recently found a very good deal for a Japanese PS2. However, at the moment, the ToD remake is the only imported game I can think of that I really want to play. I guess what I am also wondering is how much money is worth spending on which method for (currently) one game. The Japanese PS2 method is the most expensive, but I also feel like it would be the easiest. What has been everyone’s experiences with playing imported games?

I just play them on an emulator.

Ah, I didn’t think of that. Is there a particular emulator you’d recommend? I only hope my basic computer could handle it…

PCSX2. If your computer isn’t very good though, it might have trouble running the games.