[throwawaaarrgh]

You're missing out on the most critical detail of Japanese culture that is lost by most westerners:

Speed isn't more important than having respect for your craft. If you have to go slower to produce a better result, you go slower. If you have to work harder to perfect an incredibly tight joint, you do that. You don't have to use traditional joinery to build in Japan today. But if you build something in a shitty way, it reflects poorly on you.

Efficiency is not the goal.

[YeBanKo]

I am not missing out on anything. Modern steel and modern tools are good. A $500-$600 dollar miter saw with a good blade makes very tight and precise cuts, better than 99% of hand made cuts made in Edo Period.

The article is specifically talking about a large saw. A modern mill is gonna do a much better job ripping large pieces of wood, then 3 dudes sawing for hours and constantly resharpening their tools. A good joint is the one that holds the load well. A non-masochistic way of building things is not shitty, it simply means you are did get trapped in a cult thinking.

> Efficiency is not the goal. If you are into wood cutting, then sure. Go for it. Cut it in any way you want, with any imaginable tool. But then it's wood cutting, not building things.

[agumonkey]

In festina lente.