The older ones here will remember when "Made in Japan" meant rubbish. Japanese factories turned out poor quality goods at low prices. Then they got smart, if you've already gone to the trouble of making a product ie sourcing raw materials, setting up a factory, employing and training a workforce, you can get much larger profits for a small investment in improving quality.
Spend a bit more money on design and materials and suddenly your 99cent widget goes for $5.00. Why do aircraft engineers spend so much on SNAP ON tools, $30+ for a simple screw driver bit when KMART will do a 99 piece set for that price ?