Historically, at least from my experience and study, it seems Chinese decorative and stylistic tastes tend toward the ornate, even ostentatious, whereas Japanese stylistic tastes tend to be minimalist and simple. This is even true of cuisine.
Is this because Japanese style developed from China when Chinese tastes were less interested in the ornate? Or is it a unique Japanese influence that abandoned Chinese style? Or is it that China had contact with other countries/cultures that influenced them that Japan did not? Or did Japan simply not have the means and expertise to create these kinds of works (or vice versa)? Or something else entirely?
Japanese "style" of architecture and obejcts d'art have of course changed during the hundreds of years of history but one of the really important cultural figures which had a huge impact on Japanese "style" was Sen no Rikyu or simply Rikyu.
Rikyu was the tea master of Oda Nobunaga and later Toyotomi Hideyoshi.
Through Rikyu the wabi-cha or "wabi-sabi" which honours simplicity, directness of approach and humbleness became very popular throughout Japan and was considered the high culture.
If you are interested in Japanese art, familiarity with the concepts of wabi-sabi is essential.
Reference: Koren, L. (1994). Wabi-Sabi for Artists, Designers, Poets & Philosophers