Truly appreciate the sentiment, but I asked a specific question about choosing between store brands. There's a specific example on the thread: thinking between the Yoshikazu Tanaka knives carried by Razorsharp in Singapore and by Hitohira (incidentally carried by Kitchin in Singapore). Not sure why there are four pages of comments on finding The Perfect Knife and no answers to the actual question.
If you don't know, that's fine. For example, one member messaged me saying he bought one of the Razorsharp Tanakas and he doesn't actually know anything about how it was made, but it's still one of his best among a formidable collection. That's not a bad answer.
This is a good inquiry from a consumer's perspective. We don't want to make an expensive mistake. What's the difference between this Tanaka and that Tanaka from over there?
This question is justified because the Japanese knife industry is complicated.. Our trusted vendors share what details they can, but even they are often muzzled when the info is 'sensitive'. And some of them just make stuff up because admitting not knowing a truly minute detail may hurt their rep. In addition, craftsmen are only human; they have good days and bad days.. plus, the summer heat in Japan is infernal. Do you think these smiths work with full A/C? Mr.Tanaka is not a machine. The reject piles in the sharpeners' workshops are higher than you think, and you will find works by revered names here such as Shiraki, Genkai, Togashi,etc. And man, the sharperners? There are truly minute/large differences from even the same sharperner over their often extremely long careeres (just look at Fujiyama history thread by Omega).
Ergo, there is a lot of mystery about product quality wrapped in privileged facts, misinformation, and natural inconsistencies. So the guiding principle is
caveat emptor, buyer beware. This forum is essential for this very reason.
But of course, there are some things the buyer can do to be 'woke' and not get swindled to an expensive purchase with big names (e.g. many Genakis are sold in horrible shapes.. but these get bought for a different reason, I suppose).
First, like what many members here said already, know what your knife preferences are. But be flexible. Your taste changes.
Second, use them at a shop that lets you, to test the geometry on denser produce such as carrots or sweet potates etc. If you can't, idk, buy&test the blades like everyone.. because the vendors might not tell you the the nuances even if they know, but most often they don't know the differences themselves. Or won't admit they don't know it.
Third, and this is the real prize, you gotta get really really good at polishing and fixing knives. I mean, better than most professionals. You gotta spend some quality time.
Truthfully, sharpening the edge tells you very little about the forging or the overall shaping/geometry of a blade. The common light reflection test for geometry, sighting the edge alignment, choil shots all have their limits. Stones reveal much more, though most sharpeners don't know how to interpret what the abrasion patterns show. But when you polish many blades with a specific intent to study the effects of different stones and achieving certain colors/polish on a surface, you may get a sense of a blade's production quality.
This method works synergistically because to get after that great stone polishing you envision, naturally you learn to straighten blades, identify warping, see tapers and understand the geometry combined with the blade's functions. You win some an lose some here. But you learn always, and this is the key to really undestanding the different brand/store labels. When one gets to a next level undestanding of sharpening, you just see the differences.. more of them anyways.
But we live in a real world with limited resources. There are truly very, very few sharpeners who have the time & knowledge to ascertain and articulate the practical differences in Tanaka forged blades sharpened by different sharpeners, by purely sharpening/polishing a bunch from multiple batches. Outside of doing this, you are making highly educated guesses. Some of these guys don't even own a knife shop or work in the knife industry. Even fewer have the will to teach/train others, and explain these things in layman's terms to the mass. Side topic; I always respected JBroida for this very reason.
To answer your specific conern, you have to pick your prospect knives, post photos of their geometry to the best of your knowledge and ability, then weigh the experts' opnions based on the photos. If you don't trust experts, you gotta learn things yourself. If then maybe things will change..
Caveat venditor?
so I'll try to genuinely answer your question: it depends
