Gihei HAP40 Nakiri Rosewood with horn Octagon handle

I bought this nakiri, the very one shown in the pictures (the fingerprints on the one I received matched the ones in the photo). I own more expensive knives, and also some cheaper ones, but I was specifically after a HAP-40 nakiri as a specialist soft vegetable knife for “green board” kitchen prep sessions. In particular, I was looking for one with a narrow spine and a considerably flatter edge profile than the ones I already owned. Why did I buy this knife? As previously mentioned, it’s HAP-40 and a nakiri, and its spine thickness of 1.6 mm ticked all my boxes for what I was looking for. Gihei? I hadn’t previously heard of them, so I did a quick look around to get an idea of whether the relatively low to mid range price was buying an overpriced trinket, or a value for money knife that should unassumingly do a good job, and keep on doing it for years to come so long as it was shown proper care. There wasn’t much info out there, but I didn’t find anything to scare me off either, so for the money I just took a punt. After all, I was after a work knife anyway, not a show piece. First impression when it arrived: It came in an unbranded black cardboard box, with a simple red insert and clear plastic blade cover inside … and ***sigh*** … it was bent. I don’t know where/how it happened (factory, shop, or transit), but there it was. That thin blade was pointing about 3 degrees to the right and had a few wiggles along its length. Second impression: It didn’t have a cutting edge. The blade bevel was ground all the way to the edge (meaning the cutting edge was way too thin and would easily chip). This wasn’t a big deal. Some manufacturers give you the option of this anyway. It was just unexpected. I don’t know if all Gihei knives are supplied like this. Luckily the knife arrived while I had a day off, so I straightened the blade, ground a cutting edge, cleaned it up and gave it wipe over with a little Tsubaki oil. Final impression: Well look at that! It’s unassuming, yet still rather well presented. I wouldn’t call it impeccable by any means, but the general finish of the blade holds its own along with other knives in the same price range. The handle is nice to hold and the knife is light and nimble, with a slight weight bias towards the front of the blade. The HAP-40 steel holds a really nice edge, the thin profile glides through veges, tomatoes etc. and for the price point, I think it’s a very well spec-ed knife. The people who will get the best value out of this knife are those who will use it as a cutting implement rather than a status symbol or display piece. The final finish of this is good, but it’s not a show pony. If you’re handy with general knife maintenance, you could wiz it up a bit to make it a little more impressive. The glue on the handle could do with a tidy up and the blade’s bevel could be better finished off on a whetstone .One side of the bevel shows a grinding line that looks like a grinding machine took the final cut. Normal blade thinning after sharpening a few times would clean that up anyway. Lastly, if it wasn’t for the fact that I had to straighten the blade when I unpacked it, I would have rated this knife 5 stars for its purpose and price point. With that out of the way, it is a nice knife to use.