Can you guys explain the difference between the Shimano reels sold stateside and the ones sold in Japan? I realize that could be a broad question, but I mean the abridged version:)

You probably should have posted this is the Shimano forum but I'll go ahead and answer it for you.

Every region in the world has different fisheries and different demands of the products. Shimano has different divisions around the workd which are responsible for determining what products they need. The manufacturing process is the same, but the components used may vary by region. We have harder gear material for example on many of our reels due to the demands of US anglers. We typically target larger fish and use heavier line than many places such as Japan.

Some of the parts may interchange between models. Many parts will not. Spinning reels for example are probably the least interchangeable out of all the products due to all the gear ratio options. Low Profile and round reels will be the closest.

Long story short: Stick with the US products for this market. We spend a lot of time making sure they are correct for our customers demands. The foreign model reels are also not covered under our warranty.

Bantam has you covered and from I can tell with people on this site...The only thing US anglers covet from Japanese reels are the colors...not worth the extra $ IMO