Shibata Kotetsu: Is definitely in the mix. It's different, exciting and looks like a fun knife. Just wished the tip were pointier.
Kazan HAP40: I have the Kohetsu HAP40 WA which is the same knife. No hammer finish and the WA is thinner and lighter. It's the worst knife I have. Even if I put aside all the manufacturing faults it had. The grind and geometry was all over the place. I hate the profile. The grind is something like 90/10, it steers noticeably, tip is clumsy, there's a shoulder two to three mm behind the edge on the right side and combined with a convex grind makes it wedge bad. At first I liked the thing because the initial cut feels good, but then it just goes to s***. The more I used it the worse it felt.
I recommended it I think once when I got before I realised all the "extra features" and I never will again. The only positive take away was that now I know exactly what I don't like in a knife. It's a project knife now and time will tell if I'll ever get it in shape.