ABOUT JAPAN WELL PRESERVED CULTURAL IDENTITY
(j'ai droit a 1 article prise de tete avec titre pompeux par mois !)

There is a tendancy to believe that modern Japan consists only in a heavily urbanized civilization.
On the other hand, most of the Japanese national territory is a chain of volcanic mountains unappropriate to set up habitations and large cities.
Therefore it is obvious that there are numerous areas in Japan that remain relatively unurbanized, natural and have preserved their original historical and cultural values.
You can find these areas quite easily if you go out of the main roads including the smaller touristical ones indicated in your LONELY PLANET guide book.
The easy and convenient fact about Japan is that you don't have to be a baroudeur to travel to the unexplored areas because comfort and modernity will never be too far away.