Boll T5000 outer ply ?

Do you know the outer ply of Boll T5000 ?

Koto

Yup.... Koto it is

I think they are made in Japan. No evidence but the quality is same as other BTY Japanese production blades.

Kiso Hinoki or Cypress is not used in any of their 5+2 blade for a good cause.

There is a certain minimum thickness for Kiso Hinoki before its strength drops too low to be of use.  Sadly the minimum thickness is usually too thick for the 5+2 structure and so you only see it in 3+2 structure blade like the Schlager Carbon, the Primorac Carbon etc and those are ~7mm thick, comparing to the Viscaria/TB/Innerforce that are under 6mm.  Think about it.

It's made in Japan

zeio wrote: Kiso Hinoki or Cypress is not used in any of their 5+2 blade for a good cause. There is a certain minimum thickness for Kiso Hinoki before its strength drops too low to be of use.  Sadly the minimum thickness is usually too thick for the 5+2 structure and so you only see it in 3+2 structure blade like the Schlager Carbon, the Primorac Carbon etc and those are ~7mm thick, comparing to the Viscaria/TB/Innerforce that are under 6mm.  Think about it.

How about Kong Linghui Special? Thickness is less then 6 mm.

Kong Linghui Special is 6.4mm thick.  Its top ply is not Kiso Hinoki, but Cypress-pine rather.  The one Kong Linghui had played with actually had Koto as top ply.

As for the country of origin, go check out the Butterfly Japan website.  Those shown in the lineup are assumed to be Made in Japan.  There exist other models, mostly low-end, for specific local markets(refer to the regional websites) and those are most likely Made in China.  There are exceptions though, like the Viscaria.

Just a few days ago, there was this thread where the poster had his friend get him two blades from the largest equipment store in Fukuoka of Japan.  The blades in question were Taksim(20060) and Timo Boll ZLC CS(22890).  From what he said, the store owner claimed these were Made in China, and were intended for sale only in China.