Been eyeing a Takamura R2 gyuto 210mm for a while. Every US retailer I check has it at $195 to $230 depending on stock. Out of curiosity I searched japanese sites and found the same knife listed around 17,000 to 18,500 yen, which is roughly $113 to $123 at current exchange rates.
That gap made me wonder if buying from japan through a proxy actually saves money once everything's added up. My rough math: proxy fee is usually a few hundred yen, domestic shipping within japan free or minimal, international shipping for a single knife probably $18 to $28 depending on carrier. So worst case total is around $145 to $160 all in, still a decent chunk below US retail.
Ran the same exercise on a couple Sakai Takayuki models and the pattern held. US shops seem to mark up mid range japanese knives by 40 to 60 percent over japanese domestic retail.
One thing I noticed poking around proxy comparison threads is that Onemall charges 200 yen per item and apparently adjusts the shipping cost down if the box ends up smaller than estimated. Minor on a single knife but it'd add up if you grabbed a petty and a gyuto in one order.
Main worry is how these services pack a blade. A chipped tip in transit kills the whole savings argument and I don't know how much experience proxy warehouses have wrapping knives. Also unclear whether domestic carriers in japan restrict shipping blades in ways that could complicate things.