To address the second part of your post; while JA was unknown to most potential US buyers in the early 70s (or even now for that matter) they still would have been imported. During the early days of the "Bike Boom" importers were trying to get hold of any and all the "10 speeds" they could as they were flying out the shop doors. Since the Japanese hadn't jumped into the pool with both feet yet Europe was the only source available, save Schwinn. All sorts of Euro makes were available in the early 70s that would be pushed out by the Japanese later in the decade.

Besides a good shopowner could use the relatively unknown TdF champ to add some "cache" to the bike and make the sale.