And then proceeds to identify and name them using English cutting techniques and names.
There aren't "100 times more names". Every language will have those names.
In Eastern style, especially in Japanese/Sushi culinary world, you still julienne a veg similar to all other culinary cultures but Sushi requires special modification for each dish. It’s not saying it’s superior or whatnot, it’s just that sushi requires 5-7 different “types” of julienne, that all have a specific name, as an example.
Some of those techniques are so specific, they aren’t translated or practiced outside of sushi preparation and may not have a “name”.
At least that’s how I took that statement.
Are these "special names" like the "100 names of snow" and actually are literally "dice diagonally", "slice laterally", "make small cubes" etc.?
For example: in French terms, you’d have to explicitly say “julienne the scallions across and dump them in an ice bath”.
For sushi, that’s an explicit technique. The cut, length, trim, and preparation can be conveyed in one word.
So lots of terms but no ambiguity.
Edit: “western” techniques do this too. Braising vs blenching X provides a lot of context that isn’t explicitly stated.
And I don't know Japanese, but it doesn't even seem like they have a plethora of more descriptive terms for it than 'finely diced', 'roughly diced' etc. when they're both something-kiri too, for example.
From my imperfect understanding of Japanese cuisine, there is usually "a way to prepare a dish" and deviation from that way can be unwanted or problematic, a bit of a social faux pas.
But yes sure, deviate in France and you might get some bad reviews, be labelled avant-garde, but it's probably fine, and you might be on the way to greatness. I'm pretty ignorant of Japanese culture (not that I'm French either, just spent many holidays there and none in Japan) but I can believe there'd be a stronger visceral reaction to that sort of thing. Boycott the insauspicious restaurant or whatever.