Carbon Steel Nakiri western handle

Hi,
like the title suggests I'm in the market for a Nakiri. I've been looking for a while now and I think I found the knife for me, but I wanted to check whether it's a good deal, so if you guys could please help me out I'd be pretty thankful.

LOCATION
What country are you in?

EU/Germany

KNIFE TYPE
What type of knife are you interested in (e.g., chef’s knife, slicer, boning knife, utility knife, bread knife, paring knife, cleaver)?
Nakiri
Are you right or left handed?
Right
Are you interested in a Western handle (e.g., classic Wusthof handle) or Japanese handle?
Western (!)
What length of knife (blade) are you interested in (in inches or millimeters)?
I think 165mm is very OK, but I'll be able to live with 180mm as well.
Do you require a stainless knife? (Yes or no)
No
What is your absolute maximum budget for your knife?
200€


KNIFE USE
Do you primarily intend to use this knife at home or a professional environment?
Home
What are the main tasks you primarily intend to use the knife for (e.g., slicing vegetables, chopping vegetables, mincing vegetables, slicing meats, cutting down poultry, breaking poultry bones, filleting fish, trimming meats, etc.)? (Please identify as many tasks as you would like.)
All kind of veggies, in all kinds of ways.
What knife, if any, are you replacing?
Currently I do not own a similar knife
Do you have a particular grip that you primarily use? (Please click on this LINK for the common types of grips.)
Hammer or Pinch, never Finger point
What cutting motions do you primarily use? (Please click on this LINK for types of cutting motions and identify the two or three most common cutting motions, in order of most used to least used.)
Slice mostly, but whatever works best for the stuff I'm cutting

What improvements do you want from your current knife? If you are not replacing a knife, please identify as many characteristics identified below in parentheses that you would like this knife to have.)

Better aesthetics (e.g., a certain type of finish; layered/Damascus or other pattern of steel; different handle color/pattern/shape/wood; better scratch resistance; better stain resistance)?
Can't get any worse than currently, so whatever

Comfort (e.g., lighter/heavier knife; better handle material; better handle shape; rounded spine/choil of the knife; improved balance)?
A heavy knife is not a problem, as long as the handle is western I'm fine

Ease of Use (e.g., ability to use the knife right out of the box; smoother rock chopping, push cutting, or slicing motion; less wedging; better food release; less reactivity with food; easier to sharpen)?
Not an issue for me
Edge Retention (i.e., length of time you want the edge to last without sharpening)?
A relatively long lasting edge would be preferable


KNIFE MAINTENANCE
Do you use a bamboo, wood, rubber, or synthetic cutting board? (Yes or no.)
I'll buy a wood cutting board together with the knife
Do you sharpen your own knives? (Yes or no.)
I'll also buy a 1000/4000 stone and train with the knifes I already got first
If not, are you interested in learning how to sharpen your knives? (Yes or no.)
Yeah, absolutely
Are you interested in purchasing sharpening products for your knives? (Yes or no.)
Yes


SPECIAL REQUESTS/COMMENTS
So the knife I've been looking at is this one:
http://knife-gallery.com?pid=89136853 or english link: http://www.This Site Not Allowed Here.com.com/buwena16.html
I'd be able to get it for about 110€, which seems like a pretty good deal to me. I am new to carbon steel knives though and I'm not sure whether it's smart to buy such a hard steel right at the start. If you need some additional details I'll do my best to provide them.
Thanks in advance for your help. Also, although it's late, happy new year everybody.
Edit: Apparently my second link isn't allowed here, it's a Murata Western Nakiri 165mm

I wouldn't pay too much for a Nakiri. A lot of people have one, like it but rarely use it. A good simple carbon one, by Robert Herder, Solingen. Comes very thin, very easy sharpening. http://www.knivesandtools.de/de/pt/-robert-herder-nakiri-pflaumenholz-1841-62504-kuchenmesser.htm

I've owned a couple of Takeo Murata's knives (all wa-handled) and they are of pretty good quality, though the fit and finish could be better (they have a sharp edged spine, for example). As long as you are willing to pay a $100 surcharge for a Western handle rather than a traditional wa-handle, and the changes in the balance of the knife that a Western handle can cause, I say go for it.

Rick

Please be aware of shipping costs, import tax, local VAT and handling costs if you buy from outside the Union.

I looked at the Herder as well. However I -really- prefer the looks of the Murata and the price isn't that outrageous (as I said, around 110€ with western handle). I eat veggies a lot and I liked the chinese cleaver of my girlfriend, so hopefully it'll see some use.

This'll be my first "good" knife (best I got right now is a Zwilling Pro chefs knife, with which I'm happy as well), so I guess I can live with some imperfections, as the ones I had before were probably worse in every regard.

I'll buy from an austrian seller, so customs will be no problem. I didn't link to that shop, as the description there is pretty bad and in German.

Thanks for your help, you've already been a great help

Is Aogami #1 okay for somebody who's new to sharpening knives and taking care of carbon steel? I got some stainless knives I'll be able to train with first. Will I be fine?

Any carbon steel will sharpen much, much easier than your Zwilling or other soft stainless. Aogami #1 which is great stuff, no exception.
For your first sharpening, get a Herder carbon peeler or an Opinel, if you don't want to start with a nice knife.

That's good to know.
Just remembered another thing, there seem to be multiple "versions" of the Murata. Some have 2, some 3 and I even found a store that offers them with 4 Kanjis engraved on the side. Does this matter in any way, or is it just another batch or sth.?
Would you guys recommend some special kind of wood for the cutting board? Would've gone with a cherry wood one from Herder.

cuttingedgeknives.co.uk also sells Murata knives - not a western handled one, but it might be worth asking whether they could get you one.

Just a little update. I'm currently waiting for a mail from the seller I'll get my wetstones from, he also got the Murata Nakiri, but it's much more expensive (180 vs. 106€) than the shop I found it at. Asked them whether they'd be willing to adjust the price a little, so I can order both from a single shop.
Cuttingedgeknives looks like a nice shop, but the wa handle one is already more expensive than the western one I found, so I doubt I'll be able to get it for that price there.
Once I got it I'll definitely check back in and tell you how satisfied I am. Really looking forward to this knife and getting into sharpening.
Btw. a nice forum you got here, the atmosphere is certainly very nice, at least on the first look.
Again, thanks a lot guys, have a nice day

I have this exact knife. Mine is the 4 kanji version, purchased from a Canadian retailer. My understanding is that the different kanji do not signify any difference in the knife itself.

I like using a Nakiri. So much so that I own 3 different ones: the Murata western handle, an Anryu Shirogami 165 with oval wa handle, and a 180 by Tsourkan (Marko) made from 52100 carbon with a gorgeous wa ringed gidgee handle.

The Murata is no lightweight. It is a solid Nakiri - mine weighs 189g. It cuts well and keeps a pretty good edge. It is not very reactive as carbons go...the KU finish helps with this. In comparison, my Anryu is super light, really thin and wickedly sharp, but is horribly reactive...rusts when you breathe on it. Even after a coffee patina (looks cool and helps to a degree), this Anryu is still reactive as hell.

But back to the Murata - I think it is a sound choice for quality and value. Solid knife.

Cheers,
Blair

Great, that was exactly what I needed to hear. Just got home from vacation and ordered the knife and this cutting board.
It'll probably take a little till the knife arrives, hopefully I'll have it till saturday. Can't wait , I'll definitely report back once I got my first impressions.

Today the Nakiri finally arrived. I'm not quite sure, but I think I received B-stock. There was some rust on the edge (which I got rid of asap.) and it chipped at various locations, luckily only less than ~0.5mm so it shouldn't be a problem to get rid of, but still. Also there was no wrapping around the box, but I think that's usual?
But anyway, maybe nobody's at fault and due to the cold weather and the long journey (thanks GLS) some water condensed on the blade during transit or something, I don't know. I only paid about half of what the knife would normally cost, so I'm okay with this.

The packaging of the knife is pretty (excuse my french) **** for a knife that's usually about 200€. Just some cardboard, barely any fixation and it looks really low effort. Even the packaging of my 60€ Zwilling looks much more refined, high quality.

The knife itself looks really nice, it's much smaller than what I anticipated which is a good thing, as I already have a chinese cleaver. Somehow I always got the impressions that this nakiri is in between of a cleaver and a chefs knife, not "just" a chefs knife without tip, so I'm pleasantly surprised. Compared to my 200mm Zwilling Pro Chefs Knife it's rather light, the heaviest part is undoubtedly the handle. The finish looks good, although there are some irregularities and (not too) sharp edges.

Wanted to try the knife just now and realised I'm all out of everything but onions. It did a good job on that one, although I still need to get used to the sharpness and stop handling it as overcautious as I did just now.

So all in all my first impressions are pretty good, I'm happy with my purchase. Given the price I paid (~110€), I think I did good.
Thanks once again for all your help

Here are some not so good pictures, but it's all I got
http://www.pic-upload.de/gal-1039388/wn4wr5/1.html