<
https://medium.com/@mirijam.missbichler/why-japanese-websites-look-so-different-2c7273e8be1e>
"Over the years, I have had many encounters with Japanese websites — be it
researching visa requirements, planning trips, or simply ordering something
online. And it took me a loooong while to get used to the walls of text, lavish
use of bright colors & 10+ different fonts that sites like this one throw in
your face:
Hankoya — a website for Japanese seals, which are used to sign all kinds of
official documents. <
https://www.hankoya.com/>
Though there are numerous examples of sites with a more minimalistic and easy
to navigate design for someone used to Western websites, it is worth examining
why this more convoluted style remains prevalent in Japan.
And just to be clear, these are not remnants from the past, but maintained
sites that — in many cases — were last updated in 2023.
Rakuten — often called the Japanese Amazon <
https://www.rakuten.co.jp/>
There are several angles from which we can analyze this design approach:
* Fonts & Front-End Website Development Constraints
* Technological Development & Stagnation
* Institutional Digital Literacy (or the lack thereof)
* Cultural Influence
As with most topics, it is likely that there is no one right answer, but rather
that this website design is the result of various factors interplaying over
time."
Share and enjoy,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
