A couple of thoughts...
Whilst one can have handle preferences, I find it's generally something one can adapt to if you like how the knife cuts. What I've at least struggled to adapt to, is the actual grind and shape of the blade. If it doesn't line up with what you're cutting, and how you need to cut it, it's very unpleasant. All of those knives have different grinds, and will cut quite differently as a result. They're also all santoku, with subtly different profiles, which is another story...
The Takamura has a thin tip and grind overall. A little fragile even, perhaps, but it makes the experience of doing crosscuts on onions/shallots/garlic quite exquisite. Very little resistance going through most foods, generally.
That Nigara in comparison is more in the Takefu style; a thicker wide-bevel, with no distal taper, and a slightly concave grind. They make doing those crosscuts on onions/shallots/garlic feel like you're using an axe, but have good separation on things that tend to stick, like potatoes, etc.
The other two appear to be something in between.
The biggest concern I would have, is your lack of sharpening experience. Takamura's in particular come with maybe the best factory edges/grinds I've ever tried, which is a positive, as it will at least give you a great user experience right out of the box (Many J-Knives ship with somewhat disappointing edges.). However, the SG-2/R2 steel on all of them, isn't just a steel that demands some skill, it also - in my experience - demands some of the more expensive stones (Ideally resinoid or vitrified diamond, or a hybrid edge starting with a 600-1K SiC or AlOx stone, followed by diamond/CBN stropping.) to maintain the sort of edge quality that Takamura delivers. It's got a good bit of vanadium carbide, and puts up a good fight against the abrasives, if you're aiming to maintain good edge bite. The sort of grind on that Nigara also gets thick pretty quickly with routine sharpening, which will then lead to a somewhat intensive thinning job, since it takes some more serious sharpening to 'retrain' that concave grind into a convex one that can be maintained on stones. You can't just sharpen these things from a severely dulled state on a 1K/6K King, and expect the best results, or an experience that isn't quite frustrating.
SG-2/R2 is a good steel for edge retention in the kitchen when heat treated well, but steels with that kind of carbide content, also are more expensive/challenging to sharpen. I've worked with worse, but if you're working with simple stones/basic skills, it's still not going to flatter too much.
Takamura's a good choice when you're starting out, because it's basically flawless out of the box, with no real tuning needed... I can't think of too many knives at any price point that are like this. However, I'd probably err towards the VG-10 or Chromax series if you can find them. They don't have the same edge retention, but the grinds (Whilst still 'Laser'.) aren't quite as delicate, and the steels require less expensive stones to sharpen.
Philosophically, I understand your logic in choosing these knives, in this steel. It's also how I leaned, early on... However, if I could do it over again, I'm kind of split between two philosophies... Starting with something largely defect-free, like Takamura's, but in the more forgiving steels I mentioned. Or, alternatively, starting with something that isn't ready, but is cheap enough that you can treat it like the 'village bike', but has good 'bones', and you learn to tune it into something really special yourself without any fear. Something like a Tojiro, or a Tosa/Zakuri, etc.
If you'd truly like a knife in a sort-of-super-steel, with excellent edge retention, that's pretty easy to sharpen, I'd go for Akifusa (Or one of the re-labeled versions.) in SRS-15 over SG-2 / R2 almost any day. It's much more forgiving in terms of what sorts of stones you use. I don't like the grinds, profiles, or out-of-the-box edge quality as much as Takamura, but it's much easier to work with. SRS-15 is a steel that really wants to get sharp, even with pretty basic means, but holds its edge. The grinds can also be tuned up a bit, though the more curvy profiles suit some techniques/cutting-surface-heights better than others.
There's a balance in real-world usage, between time spent sharpening, and actual edge retention. How this pays off for different people varies. Some favor knives that take awhile, and more expensive stones to sharpen, but hold it for a REALLY long time afterwards. Others, favor steels that can be sharpened with much more primitive tools in a much shorter time, but need work much more frequently. Both are viable approaches, and can be equally efficient depending upon your own budget/workflow/personality.
Hope this helps...
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