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Cultural differences might also be in play here. East Asians tend to have a much higher tolerance for complex interfaces and lots of content to be seen on the same screen. I'm still not sure whether complexity is actually preferred over simplicity, but the fact is that people are very much used to it. It might have to do with how their newspapers tend to look like [1]. It's the look of something for the common people, the economical choice, while simple things are being seen as something for the nobility - well thought through but expensive, a luxury item. As an example, have a look at how suntory markets their normal [2] whisky versus their luxury brand [3].

[1] http://en.kiosko.net/jp/np/asahi_shimbun.html

[2] http://www.suntory.co.jp/whisky/?fromid=top_pr

[3] http://theyamazaki.jp/




I think it's more Chinese and Japanese sites, because their words take up far less characters.




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