I was mostly poking fun at the commenters on this article at the time and their absolutist literalist reading of the article headline. Japan didn't invent these techniques necessarily, but they are a part of the defined culture of Japanese cuisine. Like French cuisine, there are defined processes for how a vegetable is treated for a specific context, whereas an amateur or other cuisine might not make a big point of dicing vs chopping 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.