[Overpaid Slacker]

Well, I'm late to the game, but you've been given some good and accurate advice so far.

Yes, single-bevel blades are "handed", and it's not a good idea to use one for the opposite hand.

Most traditional Japanese blades are single-bevel (the Nakiri (a vegetable knife) being the most notorious exception), and most are intended to be used cutting on a "forward" stroke.

You'd probably get what you're after with a Sujihiki -- which is good for cutting filleted and boned fish. It's not really the knife you'd want to use to take the whole fish apart. It'd do it, certainly, but the "thing" with Japanese cutlery is that the knives are designed to fit a specific purpose (Garasuki for quartering chicken; Takobiki for octopus; and the Deba (or Yo-Deba) for cutting meat and filleting fish -- heavy... good for cutting through muscle, tendon and bone).

As for sharpening, I've found it best to sharpen the bevel until you just get a burr on the "back" side, then run it, essentially flat (maybe 1 degree) on the back side until the burr is gone. You can get a *screaming* sharp edge that way -- as in, total included angle in the 10-12 degree zone. yeeeow!

To hold that edge, you want a very hard steel, and you can find high-carbon stainless that's up in the 62 range, but you'll have to look and it won't be cheap. I'd stick with carbon and just take care of it.

Incidentally, since my prior posts, I picked up a Spyderco medium sharpening stone to use on the stainless stuff to "rough in" an initial edge. It's used w/o water or oil, and it's freaking awesome. As I mentioned in a prior post, stainless, though not as "hard" can be very tough to take down -- this Spyderco stone rocks.

BTW, Ralph's ebay store is GONE! I'm going to email him and see if he's set up shop elsewhere. Ralph is a very good guy and very knowledgeable about knives.

Regards,

JP