4. The complex Japanese (mobile) web
4.1 The “versionitis” problem
Those expecting Japan to be web standards heaven are in for a major disappointment: almost all Japanese websites are built with old-school HTML tag soup. Doctypes are often omitted, <font> tags and other presentational markup are common ingredients and table-based layouts have all but disappeared. The obvious downside of this practice is that most Japanese websites cannot be viewed with a mobile browser. For some websites, the story ends there: they can only be accessed with a classic desktop browser—mobile browser users are simply out of luck. Other websites cope with the compatibility problem in a slightly more sensible way: they are available in several flavors, each of which can be accessed at a different URI. I give a few examples.
The website of the Japanese Broadcasting Corporation (NHK) can be found at http://www.nhk.or.jp/, while the site's “mobile version” is available at http://k.nhk.jp/—the URI's “k” refers to “keitai”, which is Japanese for “mobile”. The version for classic browsers consists entirely of tag soup and doesn't have a doctype declaration. Furthermore, a look at the mobile version's source reveals the document uses the outdated HTML 4.0 (transitional) doctype and is built with presentational markup such as <font> tags.
The Toshiba Japan website has a more complex setup. Computer users access the site by pointing their browser to http://www.toshiba.co.jp/, while mobile visitors have to choose between three carrier-specific versions: NTT DoCoMo subscribers should direct their mobile browser to http://www.toshiba.co.jp/keitai/i/ (i-mode), Vodafone KK subscribers to http://www.toshiba.co.jp/keitai/j/ (Vodafone live!, formerly J-Sky), and AU subscribers to http://www.toshiba.co.jp/keitai/ez/ (EZweb).44 Here also, the classic browser version is built with deprecated and proprietary markup, while the slimmed-down mobile versions lack doctypes and consist of tag soup. The AU version is even written in the Handheld Device Markup Language (HDML)45, a format developed by Unwired Planet (now Openwave46) and long rendered obsolete by XML-based formats such as XHTML Basic.
The NHK and Toshiba websites are no exceptions: Asahi.com, Tokyu Hands, Yahoo! Japan, FujiTV, Sony Japan and other sites have a very similar setup.47 Some Japanese web developers take the versioning practice even to a higher level; the Japan Airlines48 website for instance is available in at least seven flavors: classic, i-mode, Vodafone live!, EZweb, Air-Edge,49 L-mode50 and PDA.
There is a twofold problem with the “versionitis” we encounter on the Japanese web.
Firstly, tying online content to specific devices goes against the web's universality principle and compromises cross-device referencing—a page that looks good on your computer screen for instance, becomes completely unusable when viewed on a mobile phone. Viewing the content on a different “mobile” URI (if available) is often the only alternative, but obviously complicates referencing practices.
The second problem has to do with the markup used: in almost all cases, web standards are completely ignored—non-standard markup and proprietary HTML extensions rule the day.
44 i-mode, Vodafone live! (formerly J-Sky) and EZweb are the names of the services allowing mobile phone users in Japan to browse the web. The services are tied to their respective mobile carrier, so it is not possible to use for instance the EZweb service when you are an NTT DoCoMo subscriber.
45 The HDML specification can be found at http://www.w3.org/TR/NOTE-Submission-HDML-spec.html. The document is only hosted as a “note” on the W3C site; the W3C does not endorse its content.
46 Openwave is a manufacturer of cell phone browsers. More info about Openwave and its activities can be found on http://www.openwave.com/.
47 The URIs of the referenced sites are http://www.asahi.com/, http://www.tokyu-hands.co.jp/, http://www.yahoo.co.jp/, http://www.fujitv.co.jp/, http://www.sony.co.jp/. It is to be noted that the mobile versions of some of these sites check if they are accessed with the appropriate browser and won't load when accessed with a classic desktop browser. Another interesting detail: some sites refer both mobile and classic browsers to the same URI—in reality however, mobile browsers are redirected to another page. In case of the Sony Japan website for instance, mobiles are sent to http://a.m.sony.co.jp/sony/top.html.
48 See http://www.jal.co.jp/. The several versions mentioned are listed at http://www.jal.co.jp/mobilephone/url.html.
49 Air-Edge (formerly AirH”) is a wireless data transmission service for use with computers, PDAs and the like. Recently, Air-Edge also started offering cell-phone services. More info at http://www.ddipocket.co.jp/p_s/products/airh_phone/.
50 L-mode is an i-mode like service that allows you to send e-mail and search for information from a fixed phone or fax. More info at http://www.ntt-east.co.jp/Lmode_e/.