Is that a Japanese knife?

Sorry, missed this bit at first.

That's my 6" Mercer Renaissance. German steel, nearly identical budget clone of the Wusthof Ikon Classic. My only Japanese knife is my 180mm Tojiro Gyuto, it's cladded vg-10.

Both are excellent moderately priced knives. Mercer is more general purpose, Japanese knives keep a nicer edge, are better for more precise work, but are also more brittle. It's always a trade-off with the steels. Vg-10 can also be a bitch to sharpen. German steel is relatively soft, so it doesn't keep it's edge as well but it doesn't chip as easily and it's really easy to sharpen back up.

And both are nice compared to the cheap 440 Stainless knives most people have. Now, I use one of those for over a decade. It works, if you sharpen frequently, but considering a chef's knife can do about 99% of what you need to do in the kitchen and will last most people their entire lives if cared for properly, it makes sense to "invest" in something nice there if you cook -- and aren't afraid to use a chef's knife. Some people are.