Crowded with links, icons and graphics, Japan’s major web portals deliver information at full volume, echoing an online culture that favors abundance over empty space. | ANNA PETEK
When I moved to Japan more than five years ago from the United States, where I worked for two design-forward digital media startups, I struggled with the Japanese internet.
The first challenge presented itself even before I arrived. I spoke no Japanese, knew little about living in Japan and needed to find an apartment. I was overwhelmed by how much information was crammed onto a single page of any of the real estate websites and how hard it was to find what I needed amid a thicket of text and details. Why was it even an option to choose a place within a seven-minute walk from the nearest train station? What was this long list in the left column of different combinations of letters — 3, D, L, K? What was the difference between a building that was two or three years old, and how much could it possibly matter? And why, in God’s name, wasn’t the list of prefectures in alphabetical order?
Despite some level of inurement over the years, in April I found myself floored once again. At the World Expo in Osaka, I was reminded of the wide gulf between Japan’s digital products and those of the West.
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