I’m an amateur woodworker. I’ve used Japanese saws, chisels, and other tools for many years. It has always seemed to me that efficiency and skill are the driving forces behind many traditional Japanese woodworking practices. They tend to be very efficient in using metal and wood, paying for this efficiency with greater skill requirements for the tools and techniques. This means they often need complicated tools or joinery to achieve the same things that a European carpenter may have solved by adding another oak beam, more metal bracing, or a longer saw.
For example, the article talks about the bimetal construction of this saw, using expensive and rare high-quality steel only for the teeth (this efficient use of rare metal is also the driving force behind the design of the katana). This is harder to make than a full-steel tool.
Japanese saws are typically very thin, again requiring much less metal. This means that the saws cut on a pull stroke, rather than a push stroke like European saws. Since the saw is much more flexible this requires more skill. But you end up with a very thin kerf and minimal waste.
Much traditional Japanese carpentry involves complex joints made of hardwood, not typically fastened with metal (e.g., nails, screws). The amount of slop you’d see in an 18th-century metal-fastened European joint would have been unthinkable to a contemporaneous Japanese carpenter.
For example, the article talks about the bimetal construction of this saw, using expensive and rare high-quality steel only for the teeth (this efficient use of rare metal is also the driving force behind the design of the katana). This is harder to make than a full-steel tool.
Japanese saws are typically very thin, again requiring much less metal. This means that the saws cut on a pull stroke, rather than a push stroke like European saws. Since the saw is much more flexible this requires more skill. But you end up with a very thin kerf and minimal waste.
Much traditional Japanese carpentry involves complex joints made of hardwood, not typically fastened with metal (e.g., nails, screws). The amount of slop you’d see in an 18th-century metal-fastened European joint would have been unthinkable to a contemporaneous Japanese carpenter.