I strop on the 6000grit side of my King weekly, then on leather with the green compound.
It's enough to hone my softer steel gyuto and nakiri but of course every month I have to sharpen both. Not that they're already dull, but I need them super sharp to 1) make cutting effortless and 2) cut tomatoes really thin without crushing the juices out for my sandwiches. I have a 240mm carbon gyuto but despite the harder steel it's easier to get a burr on that one, and the steel harder means I barely sharpen the thing. However it's a little too long for what I need daily so I only use it mostly when my friends and I are having a BBQ, where I use it to portion out fillets (I sear them skin on) or make crudo/sashimi (I'm too cheap to get a yanagiba that will only be used for raw fish and carving prime rib, although the store I got the crap 800grit from has some generic yaangibas...the weird part is that despite them being sharp and otherwise single bevel, the rear of the knife isn't hollow ground). And as much as that gyuto makes short work of the tomato, the tomato makes short work of it in return. I sliced some for a sandwich, cleaned it well, wiped it dry, let it dry completely overnight and placed it in its sheath, and lo and behold two weeks later I nearly cut myself pulling it out as oxidation was so thick the velvet lining got stuck to it. Took me an hour with baking soda and a rust eraser just to clean the damn thing. Anything else I cut with it, no problem.
Sounds like there's too much PH levels or some acid in the tomato the knife doesn't like which is sadly not surprising.
Also means the steel wasn't well sealed when forged which is even more the pity.
You might have to keep oiling the knife till its soaked, almost like a wok to make sure the steel doesn't oxidise otherwise you might have to break out the baking soda & rust eraser every time you cut tomatos.
This goes back to what you said about the knife rear on the yangibas not being hollow ground which to me says terible knock offs though hollow ground doesn't mean much personally except for it is a nice traditional Japanese Tool making method...among other things.
I hardly use my own yangiba which is the minimum 240 mm length for the type so you're not missing much, I would suggest a good ceramic knife but not for the prime rib if you need to do cutting on masse
Otherwise Kasumi or Tojiro Flash are good alternatives.
Pricey but worth it
Forgot to mention the last time, not sure if you can get it in Manila but the brand Furi has a good sharpening system called Diamond Fingers which is pretty decent so it might be able to work well for you if you can find it.
The Diamond fingers pocket version is a piece of crap, if possible, look for the system.
Might work better for the acid knife you have.
For the most part what I have to sharpen often is my old santoku. Decent steel but still on the soft side, but it's a cheap thick knife and I use it to decapitate fish and take chicken apart. Honing can't fix the edge clean even though I only cut through chicken joints and softer fish spines. After about one bird it'll have some sections that need resharpening.
Maybe get a better knife but as long as it works & you are happy is important.
Traffic is what's making it a PITA. I'm less than 20km from the shoe manufacturing area and just going there is making me lazy. The strop I got online is originally for my pocket knife given its length.
Understand that feeling, there is a leather supply place basically two blocks away & I feel the same though that may change once I sort out some things.
Even getting the stuff from Japan will cost me $30+ to ship. And I'm less confident about those dealers sending me a new one if they didn't wrap it in a lot of padding or if it was absolutely mishandled.
As said before, shipping to where I am is so ridiculous more often than not & yes, for potentially fragile things, it doesn't help when there are idiots who don't know how to pad things or whatever post system used can just throw it around too.#
I cross my fingers every time I order something, even locally or maybe especially...
For the most part I'm good with my KW65, especially the 6000grit side. It's not gonna wear down for many years. It's the 1000 side that I'm having a problem with. Kind of slow even on my 54HRC gyuto, kind of decent on my harder carbon steel (but then again, it does tend to be easier to get a burr on carbon steel), but if I get the local AUS8 knife I'm anticipating it to be really slow. It's already slow on a 54HRC stainless knife, 60HRC will be like a total body workout, which means less time and energy actually cooking, which is the whole point of getting a decent knife.
Which is why I suggest the 800/1000 grit Kasumi stone if you can get it, will be easier & 'smoother' or burr free to use compared to the KW65 for all harder steels. Obviously, will still time to sharpen with but definitely
less time.
I suggest considering it if you can get it or the Furi Diamond Fingers System I recommended earlier.
Either or both will definitely make things easier for you, certainly less of a total body workout.
AUS8 steel is good & useful though personally & subjectively I prefer VG 10, D2/3 or 15MoV
On a side note, I have a cheap & good Chinese cleaver I got years ago which I have no idea the steel but it is among the best (handling & edge retention) affordable cleavers I have used & own.
In the many years I used it, I only had to really sharpen it twice, honed it more double that but still works better than most of my pricer knives with VG 10 steel so go figure.
I'm probably just gonna get a Naniwa Traditional 800 or a Cerax 1000 when my brother flies in. I don't really mind if my 6000grit and strop makes my knives look kind of weird with a mirror edge (not to mention the local AUS8 knife does have that anyway, so at least that one will not look weird). Although long run I might get a 3000grit if I get any other decent knife that doesn't have a mirror polish and I don't want it to look weird with just the edge having the mirror finish. At least with the local knife I'm getting the mirror polish goes past the edge, so using anything with less than 5000grit or with less polishing compounds than a Chosera 3000 might be a problem for it. The guys who sell the knife claim it's fine on the KW65, ie they know one guy who used it, but without all the details, chances are he's just got more patience than I do (or they got it wrong and he actually has the harder KDS or the 800/6000 formulated specifically for carbon steel but works with any hard stainless steel just fine).
If your options are the NT 800 or Cerax 1000, suggest the Cerax 100, you will get you better edge retention as well as make your knives easier to maintain.
The whole mirror polish thing is irrelevant.
Personally & subjectively, mirror polish on a knives mean very little to me, as long as the blade is sharp, touch sharp, in fact, all good.
In the same vein, I am wary where polishing compounds are concerned as most don't do a whole lot in the grand scheme but they are useful. I agree it might be more a case of expatience as well as wrong info regarding the harder stone.
Too fine for my needs though, even the King 6000 finishes my knife with a near mirror polish that's still way too shiny compared to the rest of the knife.
Although I'm also considering the Gokumyo thanks to the width. I think they're a hair over 3in wide. With an 8in at an angle that's practically just the flat section then the belly to tip - basically I just have to do two sections instead of moving up and down the edge.
Can't go wrong with the Gokumyo.
, which I rather & have put into other things, especially audio gear 
