My only visit to Japan was a few days in Tokyo, but I'd love to go back. The culture is so different to ours, but we found people really friendly and helpful. The kids are into things like Anime, so they loved it.
A friend of mine went a while back and she seemed to go to the baths just about every day.
Japanese culture is very different even for Asians, let alone Westerners, I think many get a culture shock when they go, but luckily Japanese are very friendly like you say, especially in the more remote places.