Install the costco 51R battery in reversed/flipped orientation.

Now the terminals are in the correct fore/aft spots.

Easy peasy.

I had a Costco (branded Kirkland) battery and it finally died on me after 6 years. And only because I didn't turn the car on and killed it when I pumping air into my tires.

Honda's warranty on their batteries rivals Costco's as well. Made the decision easy for me.

I thought about that and investigated how well that would work a few years ago. Perhaps it was how they made the 2009s but the cable reach for that idea was extremely tight. When the Honda dealer matched Costco's price and added installation, I went for the OEM.

I too installed a Honda-branded battery back in 2017 and never looked back. If I recall correctly, it was around $110 before core charge.

This still holds true today. My 2019 4Runner (built in Japan) runs a Panasonic battery. Curious if the US-built Toyotas also run Panasonics...

I would have done the same, if price was similar/same as in your case.

Correct orientation (no chance of wire rubbing thru the insulation), and OEM badging.

Probably not. It makes sense from the standpoint that it's much easier to source batteries domestically vs. importing them if they can help it. I'm sure it's cheaper for them to just buy on their own soil, kinda like how we pay outrageous sums for JDM parts that are silly cheap over there....Who knows. I remember all of the Subaru guys going nuts spending big money to get the black Tokyo Roki oil filters for their STis as it was made in Japan and they felt it was much higher quality, and also what the car came with from the factory, over getting the blue ones from the dealer.