Timber framing is a totally different animal than stick framing, in the US, which the comment was explicitly about. Stick framed buildings use 2x lumber joined together with nails, while timber framed buildings use heavy timbers joined together with bolts and other complex joinery. Japanese house construction (at least what I've seen on YouTube) can accurately be described as timber framing, because it uses timbers set in place by crane and connected with bolts and a lot of mortise-and-tenon joints.
