Why are so much japanese websites outright ugly?

[Manarak]

Many semi-private japanese websites seem to have been written ten years ago in javascript, integrating blinking and scrolling effects of bad taste as well as colors which would even make a chameleon barf ...

Ever noticed?

[Taro Toporific]

Many semi-private japanese websites seem to have been written ten years ago in javascript, integrating blinking and scrolling effects of bad taste as well as colors which would even make a chameleon barf ...
Ever noticed?

, ..forgive them, for they do not know what they do."

[DJEB]

Many semi-private japanese websites seem to have been written ten years ago in javascript, integrating blinking and scrolling effects of bad taste as well as colors which would even make a chameleon barf ...

Ever noticed?

Yeah. It's the 1995 "Look at me! I'm using technology!" look. Then companies think that the secret to a successful site is endless pages of text. Bleh.

[Taro Toporific]

It's the 1995 ...Then companies think that the secret to a successful site is endless pages of text. Bleh.

They are still using that "Secret" since most Japanese company sites are 95% PDFs and 5% meaningless-Flash infested.

[plaid_knight]

In their defense, I'd have to say that a lot of western sites have great graphics and very little actual content. Usually the "fan" pages have more information available than the official pages for the products, shows, or services.

[Steve Bildermann]

For years this site has been my gold standard for worst web site on the net. I wrote to the guy making a couple of simple suggestions and of course he got all upset and flamed me!

Wild colors / mixed fonts / swirling, whirling and flashing stuff all over the place. Email and other important info buried on other pages etc etc.

http://totlogcon.tripod.com/exptlc1.htm

Stand well back when clicking, be sure to turn on your sound!

Oh yes BTW he's a web page designer.

[Cubed]

Don't you think that even yahoo.co.jp has that rather over-busy "caffeine" look favoured by many Japanese websites? Typically they have lots of disparate testboxes with little real function other than to compete with each other. Maybe it's to do with the way the sites are oftentimes "developed by consent" rather than by artistic rule.

[Buraku]

there are some crazy ones out there

[IkemenTommy]

Like... RobPongi.com?

[james]

yeah, japanese websites can suck pretty bad. my biggest beef with the majority of them is that there is just way too much stuff crammed onto a single page. yahoo.co.jp is a typical example. in all fairness, yahoo.com really isn't that much better though. pages that scroll and scroll and scroll, with 3 pixel width tables and borders along with the overuse of the strikeout for stuff that is no longer available (when selling).

another issue is navigability. some of these sites are just un-navigable, plain and simple. no consistency in layout and stuff is damn hard to find from one page to the next.

as for flashy, let's not forget (epileptics may wish to avoid viewing):

http://www.applehouse.ne.jp/japanese/applehouseJ.html

which i think has already received several honorable mentions on fg. about the only thing this page is missing is a 3d text extrude a la corel draw 3.