When I was in the culinary industry people either worked with German or Japanese style knives.
I'm a big German fan since German knives are big, bulky, and strong.
Japanese knives are thin, flexible (sometimes), light, and precise. They can sometimes snap and break when cutting something thick and hard. One of my co-worker's knife snapped in half while cutting a large wheel of hard jack cheese. That would never happen with a German knife.
I prefer German since the added weight gives you more force.
Brand-wise if you want a good Asian style knife I'd recommend Globals. They were used by more cooks and chefs than any other Japanese knife, at least in the circles I kept.
For German-style I'd recommend Messermeister. Those were the hottest knives overall when I was cooking. This is what one of mine looks like.
Buy it here.
Personally I can't comment much on Chinese knives (like cleavers.) I think they are more-or-less gimmicks like chop-sticks. That's my opinion though.
Stick to a tried and true Chef's knife that's 6 to 9" long, preferably 8". I'm speaking from professional experience by the way. I've cooked for years in the industry and many of my co-workers have become celebrities in the culinary world. I left to run my current business.
If you want the best of the best Asian-style I'd buy this:
http://www.amazon.com/Global-G-2-inc.../dp/B00005OL44