[jyl]

Traditionally, German knives have a less acute angle (a wider angle) at the cutting edge, a thicker blade, and use steel that is softer but tougher. They are made for heavy work and even some abuse. Your biggest Wusthof chef's knife is willing to crunch through chicken bones, chop through a hard squash, etc.

Traditionally, Japanese knives have a more acute angle (a narrower angle), a thinner blade, and steel that is harder but a bit more brittle. They are made for precision slicing, producing see-through thin cuts, smooth cutting of soft foods. Of course the Japanese have heavy duty knives too, some are called "deba", but those aren't usually seen in the Global and Shun collections.

If used for too-heavy or too-abusive work, the Shun or Global is more likely to be damaged, including having half-moons broken out of the edge, while the Wusthof is more likely to take the beating. So, keep a couple of the German heavyweights around.

Also, Japanese knives traditionally need to sharpened to that more acute angle, so if you use a sharpening "system" or machine, be sure it can accommodate a 20 deg angle in addition the the typical German 30 degrees.