[GoNative]

I certainly noticed being stared at in country towns in Hokkaido. A friend of mine lived down on the coast in a little town called Iwanai. If we were outside his house having a chat cars on the road out front would often almost crash as the drivers damn near broke their necks staring at us as they went past. A couple of foreigners in a little coastal town wasn't too common! In the town I lived there were quite a few foreigners and our novelty wore off a bit over the years so being stared at wasn't too bad.
I didn't notice being stared at all that much in larger cities and in Tokyo I actually noticed how very little I was stared at.