Ok, so now build an api that can handle 100k iops with a cache, db calls and everything else, and tell me how simple that is in Python.
Java and Python, like any programming languages don’t do everything well. They do a few things well, and most things adequately. Python is great for scripting and small applications, but once you’re hundreds of files into a corporate software project it becomes near unreadable. Java is great for large scale applications but suffers if you want to make a single purpose app.
I’d also argue that yes, the Java is more readable at scale. Everything is explicitly typed, braces are so much better than indents (is something 20 indents or 21 idents deep, I never know), semicolons are useful for delineating ends of statements.
It sounds like your only expose was Java in uni and have never worked with anything at scale.