Unfortunately, no. There isn't anyplace near him to do so. I'd love to be able to take him knife shopping. Sigh. The good news is, however, he doesn't know what he wants. While I want a knife of sufficient quality to last a lifetime, there's no reason why he can't move on once he gets to know what he really wants. Another idea I've had since is to get him a fancy Japanese whetstone set. Maybe he needs to learn to sharpen his knives first. :)

You could do that, and perhaps if you feel that's not enough, you could get an inexpensive nakiri. Then he could see if he likes the cutting style a nakiri uses before investing in an expensive one.

Hida Tool in Albany, CA is famous with SFBA foodies. Note they use the American descriptions, not the Japanese names. One of the last remaining Japanese-American family-run businesses left in the entire county:

http://hidatool.com/list/c/cutlery-and-kitchen

One value line is the Tojiro brand. Some people really like them. For the budget, you can buy a knife and a waterstone. Yaxell is another one, but a little more expensive.

i like my huusk knives ... it tapers to a point, and works very well with the way I like to cut vegetables. And they are sharp. Wife refuses to use them because she is scared of them.

Made in lithuania ... japanese steel.

Thank-you All so very much! Thank-you, Colleen, for the good advice. Thank-you, Jakkom, for the interesting source. I found them fine by searching "vegetable knife" but they were sold out of most. Thank-you, Gooster, for the names.

So, the mom was in town and I did see her. All she had to say is that her son loves knives. What boy that age doesn't? One of the ones that came up when I was searching on Gooster's recommendations was nearly perfect in all the descriptions, though it has a utilitarian handle (OTOH, likely to be more comfortable, addressing some of Colleen's concerns), and I chose it because it's also the nicest looking. He's had his Japanese chef's knife for a couple of years and cleans it and stores it in its box, where no one else is allowed to touch it, so I think he'll like this.

I was lost without you all. Thank-you, again!

Glad it helped. I have the Yaxell Nakiri, and a Tojiro watersone (plus a Shun Nakiri, which some people consider overpriced for the quality). You can thank the soon to be dead Chowhound boards for the names. There is actually a separate knife forum on the interwebs with super hard core knife people -- people spend a 1,000 or more on collectible knives.