I think people talk about Japanese websites because of the difference between the design of their websites in general and the design of other stuff in their culture.
If you look at landscape design, blank spaces in modern Japanese architecture, minimalist poetry, painting, pottery, film, the websites stand out a lot. There is no "zen" in Japanese websites (again, generally speaking). The "mystic" is how we perceive their work. It exists because it's just hard to quantify art and design. We know something's there though. Famous designers and architects like Frank Lloyd Wright go to Japan and are completely floored. Did many other isolated cultures' aesthetics regularly floor their visitors? People don't get that from Japanese websites... we perceive them differently, without any sense of the "mystic." And that seems odd.
I think it's an interesting question (kind of like "Why is the USA bad at soccer?" which I've heard being discussed a lot before.) but only because of Japan's unquantifiable success in other areas of design.
> I think people talk about Japanese websites because of the difference between the design of their websites in general and the design of other stuff in their culture.
I've heard the opposite. Think of all the LED and neon lights and the HUGE amount of advertisements in, say, Tokyo. It looks kinda like their websites imo.
They are looking for an explanation... and that would explain the average website, but the question still exists when you have a culture that produces a Toyo Ito, what would their best websites look like?
For a lot of people, there isn't a good enough answer yet and that is why the question gets asked over and over again.
The Japanese website doesn't stand out at all. It fits perfectly with the design language of subway advertisement, the free magazines, the urban architecture of downtown shopping areas and the quick and loud structure of their TV programming.
they do stand out. People wouldn't be talking about them if they didn't stand out. People wouldn't independently come to similar conclusions that they weren't up to par for Japan if they didn't stand out.
I think it's because a website isn't a "downtown." It's more like a single building rather than an environment built by thousands of different people. But where is the Toyo Ito of Japanese website designers?
It's true those may be reasons why they look like they do, or part of the reason, but I think it's a question that is interesting. Even if Japanese websites get their "language" from those things, it at least seems like they should get their language from other places also, such as modern architecture or industrial design.
I'd say it stands out because people have a warped image of what Japan is like. Having lived in 3 major cities in Japan, I find their webdesign completely in line with their print design, architecture, popular music and store design (both front and interior) and most apartments I've visited have been a far cry from the minimalistic lifestyle people often associate with Japan.
> such as modern architecture or industrial design.
Except for some landmarks, temples and gardens, contemporary architecture in Japan is surprisingly ugly and noisy.
I think most of the big sinners of Japanese webdesign are stores (at least the examples I can think of) and something like Bic Camera is more noisy and flashy in real life than their web presence.
If you look at landscape design, blank spaces in modern Japanese architecture, minimalist poetry, painting, pottery, film, the websites stand out a lot. There is no "zen" in Japanese websites (again, generally speaking). The "mystic" is how we perceive their work. It exists because it's just hard to quantify art and design. We know something's there though. Famous designers and architects like Frank Lloyd Wright go to Japan and are completely floored. Did many other isolated cultures' aesthetics regularly floor their visitors? People don't get that from Japanese websites... we perceive them differently, without any sense of the "mystic." And that seems odd.
I think it's an interesting question (kind of like "Why is the USA bad at soccer?" which I've heard being discussed a lot before.) but only because of Japan's unquantifiable success in other areas of design.