Who is the best Japanese knife maker?

Here’s a link with a ranking of Japanese brands:

I’m rather an expert on Japanese swords, not so much on knifes. Though, I can recommend most hand made Japanese Hōchō 包丁 (kitchen knifes), because usually they’re of very good quality and really razor sharp.
But there are a few things one should know about these knifes:
1. Good Hōchō are made of steel that rusts. Therefore they must be maintained properly (cleaned and kept dry) to last long.
2. When they lose their sharpness, they can easily be sharpened on according wetstones in a way, most rust resistent blades won’t allow. Though, this will require some practice to do it properly!
3. They don’t come cheap, if you want the real ones. But they will probaly last a lifetime, when treated properly. You can chose between the less expensive mono-steal blades or the expensive hand forged laminated ones.
4. Laminated blades are the peak of Japanese forging techniques. They are beautiful to see (a wave pattern in the steel with hardened cutting edge) and will be sharp as hell. This has been a tardition adoptet from Japanese swords of the Samurai.

Amazon Basics 14-Piece Kitchen Knife Block Set, High-Carbon