In defence of US Jazzes, my US Jazz Standard is a diamond! Wouldn't swap it for anything.....
I've never played a load of MIA's & MIJ's too compare, but going by others experiences you do have to search for a good one a bit more with the MIA's, but mine is testament that awesome ones are about!
I would say, regardless of where they're made, try a load of basses. There might be a MIJ and MIA hanging on a wall, the MIJ might not be as good in this particular instance, but you'd buy it over the MIA because of peoples preconceptions about them!
I will say that the MIA Reissues are a little overpriced, but then who on here actually buys 'new' basses lol, go second hand!
MIJ prices are starting to creep up as well, as they know that people are starting to choose them over MIA's. You also have to be careful not to fall for a 'basswood' bodied/cheaper pickup japanese model, the more expensive alder/ash bodied ones (with US p'ups) are where you wanna be looking regarding MIJ.
There's a MIJ 75RI for sale in the FS section here, £475 I believe. Bargain!
Good luck
Si