[aliphares]

My friend's birthday is coming up and I want to get him a wa - sujihiki because he always wanted one. But he lives in the Netherlands so my options are limited to a few websites. I'd rather not spend more than 200 dollars in total, so JNS and JCK are both completely out of the picture. Korin has their togeharu knives, but I found this line from knives and tools' in-house brand:

https://www.knivesandtools.com/en/ct/eden-dento-japanese-knives.htm

They're blue steel cladded knives, they look nice enough, and the suji is conveniently on sale right now, down to 180 bucks from around 250.
So they have better steel and better handles than the korin options.
Has anyone ever user these or some other line from Eden? And do you guys have any other options?

 

[Baba Ghanoush]

180 bucks seems a pretty good deal for an AS core stainless steel clad 270mm sujihiki with a decent nonplastic ferule handle.
Cleancut.se got a couple of similarly priced 270mm sujihikis (Kashima at $165 us bucks/1300 Swedish elsdyr and a nice looking Shiro Kamo at $190 us bucks/1500 elsdyr), but they are both blu2 kurouchi finished, so if edge retention and rust protection is favored over ease of sharpening I'd go for the Dento like an evil dentist for a pair of pliers
On the other hand, if what your friend wants is not necessarily a wa handled sujihiki, but just a nice carbon slicer with a bit of personality, a NOS K Sabatier Antigue 10" or 11" slicer might be an interesting and more affordable option: unique knives with a long time rep for ease of shapening and good edge taking but mediocre edge holding compared to their Japanese counterparts.
FYI no hands on experience, I only know these knives from window shopping on the internet. My only slicer is an 8" Old Hickory -
I really think I need at least one of those sujihikis, but ain't got no money and birthday miles away, and alas none of my friends know what a sujihiki is; I should be lucky to get a "special price" once in a liftetime on sale refurbished Kamikoto :-(

 

[aliphares]

Haha goodluck with that! And yea I know if I didn't want a wa handle there would be a looooot more options. But being the weeb that he is, he'd much rather have this. I actually had my eyes set on an 11 inch thiers issard nogent carbon slicer. Even more character and history than a regular sabatier.

 

[rick alan]

I should be lucky to get a "special price" once in a liftetime on sale refurbished Kamikoto :-(

Ahahahaha! No personal experience here but I'd say the Shiro Kamos and Eden Dento are all good choices. Certainly the Shiro Kamos are popular in general. I'd say pick whether you want blue super or blue 2.