I agree with Cynic. Both knives are really overpriced and made to be more of a mainstream diet-Coke version of the real thing. Some Shuns are so expensive that they aren't far off from the pricing on Takeda, and comparing Shun to Takeda is like trying to compare a Prius to a Ferrari. Shun and Kyocera will have good reviews on sites like Amazon, but they are not necessarily the best reviews for picking this sort of product. Of all the knives I have used beyond the cheapies, Shun is the brand I like the least. If most Shuns were about 1/4 to no more than 1/2 of what they are priced at, I would like them a lot more given they would not be priced in a territory of other knives than run circles around them, IMO.
I think Tojiro is the nicest brand out there for the money. They are high performance knives that often sell for a lot less than mainly of the mainstream knives, like Shun for example. I have a few of their DP line and one of their damascus pieces and love all of them. While not nearly as flamboyant as most Shuns, they do laminated VG-10 steel far better and overall the knife is a nicer product. I am also a big fan of Kikuichi and Konosuke. Kikuichi has quite a few carbon knives that are plane jane in terms of style, but excellent performers. Their damascus products are both gorgeous and great performers. Konosuke's HD/HD2 and White #2 lines are also often mentioned with the discussion of nice chef knives, and they do not disappoint. Their flagship Fujimaya line is even nicer (and thus far, the knife I personally like the most out of what I have handled and used). There are a ton of good makers and many for very reasonable prices. However, if you are willing to shell out the dough for the Kyocera, that puts you in the same territory as a 240mm Konosuke HD2 Gyuto, and while I don't think most of the Kyocera knives are necessarily bad, they are a far cry from a Kono!!!
