I think generally Japan is now known for quality, at least in technology. Of course they probably stole the design from Apple.
Japan got to where they kicked our rear ends, especially in electronics and cars, thanks to an American who was laughed at here at home. His idea of building quality in on the front end so there would be no need for quality inspectors after the fact went over the heads of everyone in the 50s when the rest of the world's economies were recovering from WWII. Deming was his name, Total Quality Management was his game:
http://asq.org/learn-about-quality/total-quality-management/overview/deming-points.html.
He took a bombed out country like Japan and turned it from "Jap Crap" into brands WE wanted because their quality beat anything we made at home.
I look for the same aspects when buying a gun, any gun. Don't buy the name, buy the product.