Intense fascination with "Made in Japan"

I know this isn't exactly "Living and Collecting in Japan", but I thought it was related.

Anyone else share a fascination with things "Made in Japan". Some examples: It used to be that the first lots of some digital cameras would be made in Japan with production later moving to China. Would you go out of your way to get the earlier production run? Would you buy a Honda Fit because it's the only Honda still actually made in Japan? Is your coffee grinder made in Japan? Do you only buy pencils and erasers made in Japan? You get the idea.

Also, for anyone who shares this fascination, do you think video gaming had something to do with it?

 

to all of these questions no. Made in Japan is associated with high quality, because of how Japanese people pay attention to detail and because of their work ethics. I remember when I was like 6 years old. My dad bought a sony tv, made in Japan. I recently found it in our basement - still works.

What I'd like to point out, anyone else thinks that things in the past were more durable? Not just Japanese made stuff. I think that using all eco-friendly materials, RoHS etc. made the items less durable.

 

I don't know if it's eco-friendly as much as reducing cost. The market moves fast now and products are designed to be disposable IMO. Before, a CRT TV you bought in 1988 was perfectly fine in 1998. In contrast, firmware updates for my 2010 model LED SmartTV ceased in 2012. Another example: using the first iPad today is unbearable (unless for very specific tasks or you limit your Safari tabs, etc.)

 

This, however, it was only adopted in I believe the late 70s or so. In immediate post war times, Made in Japan was something like Made in China is today. Ask an old person!

Today though, you can expect to pay a large premium for any items made in Japan. Very few are, which will raise the cost. However, the quality control is generally far tighter than something made in China. Cosina is a company that still makes most of it's products in Japan, and they are very high quality. The company itself I'm in love with. I smashed a camera like a dumb ass and they fixed it for < $100. I sent the lens in a few months later and they fixed it for free.

Also make note: this is not a western phenomenon. Japanese will pay more for domestic products. Just got to Yahoo Japan and search 国産 at the top level and look at all the hits.