For NSK bearing company Made in Japan means made in China

[Sandblaster]

Well... Interesting situation just came up...
Building a KX500 engine with all OEM bearings....
We were installing the clutch pressure plate bearing when we noticed the following..

chinese bearings.JPG (84.34 KiB) Viewed 7141 times

NSK is using Chinese bearings and putting their Made in Japan label on it...

Think it's a fluke?
NO WAY MAN!!!!!

chinese bearings 2.JPG (58.44 KiB) Viewed 7140 times

I am not a happy man right now...

[Sandblaster]

I contacted our supplier and as is understandable they do not have any control over what they get sent.
That is why I am not naming the suppliers name as they are good people.
However, they are going to contact Kawasaki and see if this is something normal.
Updates as they become available...

[Sandblaster]

No update was ever given on this issue...
So, I stopped using this supplier and started getting all my parts from our local Kawasaki dealer...

Guess what?
They are using the same Chinese bearing...
It says "CHINA" on the bearing and once again the packaging says "Made in Japan"

MORE CHINESE BEARINGS FROM NSK.JPG (144.72 KiB) Viewed 6589 times

Come on Kawasaki....

[Sandblaster]

Update 3-30-23
All sources we have tried are selling the same Chinese bearing.
So, we will order a quality bearing from someone else.

Here is another bearing number 6001C3ML01
But since I don't trust that bearing here is the actual bearing size.

28mm OD
12mm ID
8mm width

What I will order is a 6001 C3 Open
You can also order them with the rubber seals and simply remove the seals.
Koyo, SKF, Fag, ect are all good.
Any USA, UK, Swiss, German, or real Japanese bearing is good.