Finally figured out the problem.
when I put in the new points and condenser,I put the dizzy on the bench and noticed that the insulating washers around the terminal on the side of the dizzy where the condenser and primary wire to the coil attach need replacing. I replaced the washer on the outside with an old style rubber faucet washer. Fit good and seemed to work fine. The rubber must have some metalic content as a check with an ohm meter showed that it was slightly conductive and prevented the points from breaking the circuit completely.
why the Japanese coil would work at all I don't know.
I installed the new Bosch coil, took the car for a drive running up to red line many times and it never missed a beat. Life is good!
sometimes the smallest mistake can drive you crazy. Tom