Japanese knives for someone who can't sharpen freehand? Long story short: I horribly suck at sharpening the traditional way, so I got a Lansky sharpening sytem and I'm very pleased at the results. Now I want good knives, and a friend of mine is traveling to Japan soon and I'd like to give him a shopping list.

As far as I read, Japanese knives are typically sharpened in the 10-15 degrees range, sometimes on a single side, but the Lansky system won't do below 17 degrees.

So is there a 'compromise' kind of Japanese knife that has super good steel, a sharp edge, and yet that is sharpenable in a Lanksy system?
You can sharpen the Japanese knife to 17 degrees.  It won't be ruined or anything.  I'm sure I just horrified some people, but I accidentally did this for years, sharpening my Victorinox knives at 22 degrees (because they're European, so obviously they're 22 degrees, right?) when they're factory sharpened to 17 degrees, so I've got real-world experience here even if I shouldn't admit it. :)

Otherwise, check out a sharpener built for Japanese knives instead.  I've had fantastic results with this model from Chef's Choice:
https://www.amazon.com/Choice-Trizor-EdgeSelect-Electric-Sharpener/dp/B0018RSEMU/