I have a Misono UX-10 petty knife. Super-sharp, beautiful fit n’ finish, but I don’t really like the angled bolster of the UX-10 series. Uncomfortable to pinch grip, IME.
As drrayeye noted, there are tons of excellent Japanese knives, a lot of them made in Sakai and sold under a wide variety of brand names in Japan and the US.
I’d suggest getting a “generic” Sakai VG-10 “damascus” kitchen knife. You’ll find dozens of them if you do a search for “gyuto VG-10” at Amazon.
The example shown below looks pretty appealing to me (although I don’t own this particular knife). It’s a 9.5" guto with a 33-layer “damascus” blade and a hammered finish. I personally like knives with a hammered finish because I find it helps with food release – and because it looks so cool!
Amazon link:
https://www.amazon.com/Sakai-Takayuki-Hammered-Damascus-Japanese/dp/B00LN1ZVN6
