For Japan is truly a kaleidoscope of lifestyles and images , local cultures and the rice farmers in rural heartlands and the subway millions of teeming Tokyo ; the Zen Buddhist monks and the fad-obsessed teenaged fashion victims ; the solemn temple ceremony or the hellish din of the pachinko parlor ; exquisite temple architecture or all-pervasive soulless concrete apartment buildings .
Japan is seen to be culturally bland , offering nothing but monotony in terms of lifestyles and images .