A few years ago when I was restocking my kitchen after my divorce... I joined a couple of knife forums to do some research.. one was knifeforums.com as I recall, I forget the other one (I lost my bookmarks)... Anyway
I read their "kitchen" sections.. and did some other research.. bought myself some knives... what I got isn't important to this conversation.
Later, I needed a wedding gift for a friend in my office... and went back to research knives. One specific knife was recommended a few times as the "best buy in the world" type of raves... So I checked out the site and couldn't believe the prices... anyway, I bought four or five of these knives for my friend as a wedding present... when I was wrapping them I couldn't believe how nice they were.. I have a bunch of Japanese knives myself.. all of them costing WAY too much by community standards
... and I was thinking "rats (not really but the word I want to use produces those funny star thingys), I should have got a few of them for myself".. but I don't need any more knives...
At the wedding, my friend & new bride got a really nice set of Henckels 4-star knives (not my favorite but a really nice German knife) in a classy looking oak block and I shook my head 'cause they went all hysterical over the Henckels... then they opened up my present with the Japanese knives.. The/many Japanese knives are strange in that they only have one bevel.. (i.e. only one side is sharpened) so they have "right handed" knives as normal stock... "left handed" knives can be special ordered... My friends said "how quaint", thanked me and tossed them in their box.
Punch line is, a few weeks later I asked them what they did with all the knives they got... they said they took the Henckels back to the store where they were purchased... and are using and LOVING the Japanese knives I got for them.. they bought a wood block for them (horizontal.. cause you never want to store a knife on it's edge) and I couldn't pry any of them out of his wife's hands if I tried....
So.. if anyone is considering a GREAT quality knife at a bargain basement, best "bang for the buck" price.. check out the link I provide below... these knives come so sharp you can just look at a tomato and it almost slices itself. I noticed they have a Santoku that I'll bet performs as well or probably better than the Mac Santoku.. worth a look anyway.
http://www.japanese-knife.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=Knife&Category_Code=HFU-F