re: Japanese knife style

I have a Shun Classic with the hollow ground blade and I absolutely love it. When it's freshly sharpened, it will absolutely blaze through produce. Everyone who enjoys cooking should have a quality chef's knife that they enjoy using and not worry about spending a hundred or two on a knife that will give decades of use.

That said, what we get here as Japanese style knives are often not completely Japanese style knives. Yes, they may have a narrower spine and a shallower edge angle than Western knives, but they often are still double beveled knives where many Japanese knives are traditionally single beveled. So, while it may be a Japanese style, it may not exactly behave like a Japanese knife. If that's important to you, I'd look closer and try out any knives you're looking at to make sure they work like you want them to.

One thing I would caution if looking into thin bladed Japanese style knives is that it's still a good idea to have a heavier Western style chef's knife on hand for harder materials, half-frozen meats, working near bones, etc. Those thinner blades are great at zipping through vegetables and defrosted meat and fish, but may be prone to dulling, chipping, or damage if you hit a piece of bone with it. I keep a thirty dollar restaurant supply Victorinox chef's knife in my block for when I need to work with foods that might need a little more grunt. The right tool for the right job, you know?