This page gives a link to an edition last year of a Radio 4 travel programme featuring Japan. It runs to just under 30 minutes. The first guest is Julie Bromilow who appeared in this thread and talks in a little more detail about travelling to Japan by boats and trains. The second guest is Dr Simon May, an academic who spent a year teaching at Tokyo University and wrote an account called "Atomic Sushi". The last guest is Sophie Branscombe who worked in Japan and also with the Japanese tourist office in London.
Other topics discussed include sushi bars, vegetarianism, town vs country, Okinawan music, Japanese attitudes to foreigners and violence in Japan. We've probably all heard these views before but it's an easy listen.