Well, the basic
difference between JavaScript/Python and Java is that the first one is
interpreted language whereas the latter one is
compiled.
So its very easy to add support for interpreted languages out of box due to less complexity and JavaScript being the standard (not based on ECMAScript), you will find many browsers supporting it.
For java, one point in time (around 2003-09), people were making lot of interesting stuff in Applet which is HTML embedded client side java class. But then there was client dependency of installing JRE. So it was thick but bulky client. Now when JavaScript itself is being enriched with tons of frameworks like jQuery, AngularJS, Node3JS, etc. even Adobe flash is in the downtrend.
Also
interesting person stuff can have many diffent connotations... for example, i keep doing many personal things in Excel!
About
learning, JavaScript has derived much of its syntax from Java (and its name also!), so for Java person, it should be very easy to learn JavaScript and eventually you will understand the subtle differences.
All the best for your stint!