To be fair, most of Japanese TV is like that. I always joke that the primary reason they developed HD TV was to be able to cram more text in every corner xD

haha, makes a lot of sense!.

But then again, take a stroll around a shop-laden street in Japan and you'll see the exact same thing. They just like it that way.

Funny thing is how for interior design they do a full 180 and typically go very minimalistic.

> Funny thing is how for interior design they do a full 180 and typically go very minimalistic.

Only if they are well to do. Most family houses in Japan are crammed full of stuff with very little "design".

I was wondered that. Like from movies or documentaries, etc. Very nice, clear, order, minimalistic. Then I was looking to buy a house and I found a site with "almost" abandoned house for sale.

My God. Everything , everywhre, no design ( haha ), no exceptions. People were actually living there.

Had a cultural shock.

I do live in Japan and good god, I have never seen such messy people anywhere else in the world. The offices of all my Japanese colleagues are piles upon piles of documents and boxes without any kind of order.

But the cities themselves are like that. There is zero urban planning, just buildings thrown around in impossible non-Euclidean patterns.

They're a book from the early 1990s called "Tokyo Style" that is packed with photos of real living conditions from back then. Chaos of every variety. Plus some Super Famicom and PC-Engines laying around. A very cool book, most recently reprinted in 2024 with Japanese/English captions.

and the cables, the cables hanging from everywhere!

( btw, has anyone noticed in anime there are always frames of street cabling? Like those cylindrical transformes and thick cables. Almost cyberpunk! )

The transformers are a result of a the lower voltage (also used in America), for efficiency and to keep the required voltage the transformer needs to be nearer to the house.

We also have transformers in Europe, but they are hidden. Which incidentally makes them more reliable, as they are not exposed to the elements.

Here's the full book "Tokyo: a certain style" by Kyoichi Tsuzuki (same author), https://archive.org/details/tokyo-a-certain-style

I believe that's essentially the first English edition.

I know, I live in Japan, shopping streets are seizure-inducing here xD

"content is beautiful"

And most Japanese websites.

Yeah, shopping in Rakuten or Yahoo Auctions is quite an experience...

My favorite is the NHK reporters standing in the middle of absolutely nowhere with their NHK helmets. No matter what the event, there is a reporter wearing a helmet.

Also, the very first thing they say when the camera cuts to them is that they are standing in designated evacuation zone X that's Y meters above sea level.

Then the cameraman zooms at the ocean, which is blurry and shaky because they're in the designated evacuation zone Z km away from the coast.

That makes sense, though. To do otherwise would be pretty dumb for a tsunami situation.

But yeah, the handheld telephoto zoom from a safe location is definitely on the Japanese Disaster TV bingo card. That said, I appreciate that they just keep repeating the same warnings and data, rather than the ridiculous speculation that the US news media engages in when they get bored.

I mean, they could at least fly some drones over to the beach for some B-roll.

It would take too long to fax back the Ultra HD footage taken with optics we can't even comprehend exist.

That’s probably the responsible thing to do. It is always odd to see American weather disaster reporters, like:

“We’re here inside the hurricane, let me go outside so you can see that the wind will push me over. Can’t hear anything because my microphone is getting blasted by the wind. Over there you can see the emergency responders, they appear to be fleeing. Tell my wife I love her, but I’ve got to die for some b-roll.”

Self-satisfaction or more professional?

Pachinko!

Yes, but it does make sense.

Eg. old people without smartphones or someone just turning their TV on, seeing big letter "Tsunami evacuate" with map and other information. You instantly know the most important information and you can act on it.

Also when you visit most japanese websites you can see this phenomenon.

I've read an explanation once that this is because culturally, japanese people perceive a wealth of information and choice as being re-assuring and trustworthy, while most westerners feel more re-assured by seeing less content and choice presented in a more minimalist kind of way.

Can you point to some japanese websites that have an english version and are a good example of this?

I actually prefer content style of Japanese websites. I get all the relevant info on one screen instead of having to scroll/click thru tens. The western style websites are very inefficient and hide info (feels scammy with lack of info).

oh I hate minimalistic UIs, I think I might have just found my people