Here are my thoughts post-sharpening:
So, I sharpened up the Togo Reigo this evening, and it certainly lived up to the Fujiyama sharpener's assessment. It's not quite as buttery on the stones as W1, but better than my Honyaki B2 or W2, and maybe slightly behind an HD2. I put a 16 deg. per edge bevel on the knife, starting with a Shapton Pro 1.5K (should tell you something when a new edge angle can be applied with a 1.5K stone in about 10 mins on the EP) and progressed to a Meara which I also used to strop. The edge quality is outstanding and on par with the W1. Pretty damn crazy for a steel that is taken to 65-66 HRC...
Don't have a ton of produce on hand, but put it through a couple Anaheim peppers, apples and scallions. Stunning performer. The grind is thicker than my other Fujiyamas, but I did not notice that one bit. Falls through with almost no effort. This is yet again and example of a knife you fall in love with as soon as you pick it up, then just blows you away on the stones and on the board from the Fujiyama smith and sharpener. Feel very lucky to have scored this knife.
Seriously, hats off to the folks at Tosho and Konosuke for making this knife a reality. Great offering.
Chip, what a beautiful blade, I'm also partial to these Kono wide double bevel knives. As I read through the thread you said that you spent 10 minutes sharpening with an EP (edge pro) on a 1500 grit stone. As someone that has ruined several fancy Japanese knife blade roads with the EP, I must caution you if your going to to use tool to sharpen such a highly asymmetric profile and grind.
Just be cautious with:
1. Heel, if you don't keep the spot your grinding in direct line with the shaft axis, you'll. Create an over grind (hole) right I front of the chin. It might not be obvious at first but it will happen.
2. Tip, sme advise, Be careful you don't create a bird beak there either. I've done that too. Hole in the primary bevel right behind the tip.
Also, with a knife so new, you really shouldn't need more than a few strokes across the stone. If you're grinding with a decent 1500 grit stone for ten minutes, your taking off a lot metal.
Curious, does the knife have a visible bevel on the edge now? Both of the Kono. Ginsanko I have had zero grinds, that is, the wide back bevel extendes completely to the edge. The EP will create shoulders on that zero grind that will change the knifes cutting performance. These sharp shoulder on the primary bevel will cause resistance against the object being cut.
Just saying because I used to be an Expert EP sharpener before going free hand. Sorry if I'm a little off topic, just wanted to share cause I've been there. PM me if you have any questions.
Either way, sweet knife. Love the Kanji too