I've always had German knives because I love the way they feel in my hand and how durable they are.  But sometimes you need a sharper knife for fine chopping and fish, and that's were the Japanese knife comes into play.  It's much thinner and has a smaller edge but in the past, that could make it easy to chip.  Evolution is made from an incredible new steel, FC61, that is very durable and chip resistant. It's made and sold in Japan as a premiuim knife which tells me it's authentic.