sorry. but this is just completely wrong information. JP/CH/SP/TW are NOT where they are made. the code is where they are DISTRIBUTED. please read this: http://www.badmintoncentral.com/for...at-are-CN-SP-JP-US-CD-UK-(Yonex-country-code)
As I'm from the UK, I can say that this is absolutely not true. We get our own UK coded rackets. I think you mean that in the few stores that we have, we generally only see the high end yonex rackets that are "made in japan". This does not mean that they are JP coded, only manufactured there. I don't really know why JP coded racket cost more, but we rarely see genuine JP coded rackets in stores in the UK.
a legit authorized dealer of Yonex in the UK are only supposed to sell UK coded Yonex rackets. if you go to centralsports.co.uk, you will find that their high end rackets are UK coded. if anybody are selling JP rackets, they probably gray market imported it from Japan. mind you also, there are a lot of fake Yonex JP rackets in the market, esp ebay. so beware when you see those. as for the price difference, have you ever had a McDonald's hamburger in UK, Japan, Hong Kong, US? they are all different prices. have you also noticed that price for electronics, computer, camera, etc all have different prices in different countries? the reason is the same, different country has different import duties, costs like labor and rent, and pricing structures. it is usually up to the local Yonex distributors to set their prices. as for whether they are different in quality, different people will tell u different thing. and Yonex won't tell (we email them before). so make your own conclusions.
yes. thanks for clarifying. "JP country/distribution code" do not equal "Made in Japan", they are complete different things. when people say "JP racket" they mean the former.
I used to think that way too ; my previous racquets were always UK coded , but wandering round Decathlon (Nottingham) all were bearing FR codes. Probably because the parent company is , yes , French. More recently have received two ZF 2s from directsports.com with GR (Germany) codes ! Would have rung them up to ask why but the woman on the other end is always useless.
