The peculiar case of Japanese web design (2022)

Post by tobinfekkes » Tue, Feb 24, 2026, 2:18 AM UTC

p_j_w wrote: post #73

psygn89 wrote: post #43

Having lived in Japan it feels they either they go all in on minimalist or maximalist. Some stores are quiet, others are obnoxiously loud and brightly lit to where you don't see your own shadow. Some magazines have a ridiculous amount of text on the cover, distorting the characters to fit with bold text stroking, others especially fashion might have one line if any at all alongside their logo. Game and book covers ca…

>others are obnoxiously loud and brightly lit to where you don't see your own shadow. The name Don Quixote now triggers a PTSD reaction in me.

Post by seanmcdirmid » Tue, Feb 24, 2026, 2:26 AM UTC

shiroiuma wrote: post #112

Multicomp wrote: post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I forget if it was Samsung or Sony, but somewhere along the way on my internet journey, someone claimed, without evidence, and thus I have none either, that the incentive structure for having prestige jobs at large technology companies was always in hardware design and software was seen as easier and more low class. So since nobody will get any promotions for running good software, they are not incentivized to run go…

This is historically the reason software engineering in Japan has lagged and there's such a talent shortage (leading companies like mine to hire mostly foreign software engineers). I've heard it's changing, but it'll take a long time to catch up.

Post by shiroiuma » Tue, Feb 24, 2026, 2:37 AM UTC

pezezin wrote: post #106

iamnothere wrote: post #8

I prefer the Japanese style. Information dense, yet clean. It reminds me of the web before Apple-style minimalism took over. To contrast with a superficially similar style, Chinese web stores are also maximalist, but they tend to assault you with popup coupons, confetti effects, and other such things. Japanese style feels very efficient and utilitarian by comparison.

Do you actually use Japanese websites on frequently? Because I do live in Japan, and I hate their websites with a passion. Go use any Japanese online shop; the purchase flows are usually absurdly convoluted, and they are so information dense that sometimes you don't know what you are actually going to purchase. It is one of the reasons I rarely use Rakuten anymore...

Post by bandrami » Tue, Feb 24, 2026, 9:45 AM UTC

mananaysiempre wrote: post #105

bandrami wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The US Social Security Administration website is available from 6am to 8pm, Monday to Friday (or at least it was that way a few years ago)

I’ve heard such things in the US were because of accessibility law that required the website (for the general population) to work no better than the associated call center (for the people who can’t interact with the website for whatever reason). On one hand, that seems obviously stupid. On the other, I don’t see how you could phrase a legal requirement of this nature.

Post by art0rz » Tue, Feb 24, 2026, 1:03 PM UTC

corranh wrote: post #116

usui wrote: post #22

I read this piece when it came out in 2022. Maybe it should be marked with "(2022)". Previous discussion https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33745146 I just want to add that in addition to peculiar web design, Japanese websites have a way of assuming architectures or usage patterns where servers need to sleep or do some kind of scheduled job, which is really weird for people used to sites that need to account for a…

Getting ready for a trip to Japan, I spent an embarrassing amount of time troubleshooting failures to load a Suica (train/transit) NFC card on a phone before realizing it just doesn’t work a few hours a night Tokyo time.