which stainless 180 wa-santoku?

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Choppin

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My brother is looking for a 180 stainless Santoku or Bunka, wa handled.

He recently learned sharpening, so something stone-friendly would be nice. Let's say <$250.

I never looked myself for something similar, so I'm a bit lost here. Any ideas? Here are some I found:

Ashi 180 Santoku (love Ashi but the wa version is more like 170mm)

JKI Hotaru Santoku, SG2
https://www.japaneseknifeimports.com/collections/santoku/products/hotaru-180mm-sg2-wa-santoku
Others?

Thanks!
 
I had that knife, sold it as I was trying to downsize collection, and have regretted it ever since. It's nice and tall, pretty flat profile except tip upsweep, almost nakiri-like. Steel was easy to sharpen starting at a chosera 800 and took a mean toothy edge. I'll buy another at some point.
 
I ended up getting the Hayabusa Ginsan 180 Bunka for my brother (@tostadas thanks for the rec).

He is super happy with it and I got to try it today. I was very surprised, specially given the price. Really ticks a lot of boxes for me. Grind is spot on where I like it: thin enough to go through sweet potato with ease, but no flex and doesn’t feel fragile at the edge. Similar to Ashi in this sense, but a hair thicker at the spine, stiffer, and a subtle S grind instead of full convex. Sharpens nicely.

It’s similar in many ways to Kaeru stainless but better F&F, grind and handle - lovely wenge and horn, very high quality. The only compromise is the choil and spine could use some rounding (easy fix) and the maker’s mark isn’t the prettiest (not an issue for me).

I really want to get myself a 210 gyuto!

 
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