We went to Aritsugu in Kyoto. Absolutely wonderful experience. The knives look great and we are very excited to go back to the States to cook with them. Staff was helpful and did their best despite limited (but adequate) English skills. The knives were engraved with our names in Japanese script free of charge. The shop had no trouble putting different names on different knives, as some were gifts. Price wise, i bought a small knife for vegetables and a large Santouku for 18600 yen.
I am (so far) a very satisfied customer.