According to a DVD thread at cdrlabs, just about any stack of CDs with the 
"Made in Japan" mark are Taiyo Yuden, which is considered the gold standard 
in optical media. There's some question whether Sony makes their own or has 
TY do it, but pretty much everything else is a rebadged TY.

I can't believe I've been reading a music list for so long without some 
version of this discussion before now.

Sorry to geek out on y'all.