I hate to jump in the middle of the Japanese/German discussion...but I will I will (in the next day or two) be buying my first "real knife". I'm coming from a land of 8 year old Cuisinart, $40 dollar per set, never been sharpened knives, so the task of choosing what to get has been daunting. I started out at Bed Bath and Beyond a couple weeks ago trying to decide between Wusthoff and Henckels, since then I've been reading, and reading, and then reading some more. It's enough to make your head spin. I want to start out with a good all around knife, so a 210mm or 240mm is what I decided on. However, WHICH gyuoto has proved to be a much more involved process.I started out leaning towards the Tojira DP, and in between have seriously considered the Blazen, Misono Swedish Steel, Hattori HD, Kanetsug, then finally came back to the Tojiro again, if anything so I could "learn" on it and purchase something bigger and better down the road.. Then 2 things happened: A) I remembered how much I hate buying something twice. B) I stumbled upon the Yoshikane at EE. Lust at first sight, lol http://www.epicedge.com/pics/85676_3_b.jpg So, here's my quandary, can anyone give me a good argument against getting this? While I know this a "personal" decision, I've went from looking to spend $40-50 on a knife to $160. I have no problem doing so, but am slightly fearful of buyers remorse. I would especially any comments you have Octaveman, as a passionate oration of yours that I read here at eGullet set me out on this "Japanese Quest". Thanks.