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I've read that you cannot participate in Yahoo Japan Auctions outside Japan so they recommend proxy sites for you that bid on your behalf, etc., etc.

I was wondering if anyone here might have experience working with any of these companies and have some clue how reliable they are; how much they cost; how easy they might be to use, or any other useful information?

Any information would be much appreciated.

I used Yokkata for my one Yahoo jpn purchase (1/8 Meiya Mitsurugi figure bro).

Pretty cheap and reliable IMO.

I haven't used any in years, but I used to use Rinkya and Shopping Mall Japan and had no problems. I used SMJ by preference (although I can't recall why now) except when I needed the bigger bidding limit I had on Rinkya.
Rinka's site makes locating things easier since they have pre-canned searches and built-in translation.

This may be out of date and I'm going by memory but:
There's a few methods to authorise a credit limit (like using a credit card or making a paypal deposit) and you can bid on items up to that limit. There will be a delay between losing or paying for an auction and your limit being released so bear that in mind if bidding on multiple items in case you need to up your bid later. SMJ would hang onto your items for a couple of weeks before requiring shipping so if your auctions don't end at the same time you can still combine them for postage.