Does it have to be all Japanese? My favorite knives have a Japanese style blade with a western style handle. I've also strayed away from giving out full size chef's knives as I've noticed that it's hard to peg down all of a person's personal preferences for such a large knife. My go to gift knife these days is a Windmuehlenmesser K2 4" Petty knife. It has a unique santouku sytle blade that is pretty versatile for both paring and light chopping. I usually gift the stainless version unless I'm confident that the recipient will take proper care of a carbon blade.http://bernal-cutlery.shoplightspeed.com/search/k2/