Here in Japan, it's a modeler's heaven. Honestly, I can't imagine a better situation. Tons of well-stocked, comprehensive hobby shops everywhere! I've been here for 10 years, 2 in Tokyo and the rest in Osaka and Shiga. The biggest and best shops are of course in the big cities, but even out in the rural areas you can find great hobby shops.
Growing up in hobby-shopless rural southeast Georgia, where most of what I got was from K-mart and Ace Hardware (they carried all the Monogram 1/32-1/35 armor!), you can imagine how I felt when I moved here. Even up in Atlanta, Georgia, there aren't that many good hobby shops.
As far as what's available kitwise, I can sum it up in one word: EVERYTHING. All makers, all genres.
The smaller shops may not carry much non-Japanese stuff, you you can usually still find a smattering of Monogram and Revell kits.
The big shops have it all. Most recently there's been a boom in Eastern European and Russian kits.
I don't think there are many Japanese releases that don't make it overseas, but Hasegawa does release many versions of its kits here with PE and resin parts, like their HS-129 series.
And if you like robots, and lots of 'em, well, come on over. Gundam, Macross, Patlabor, Sakura Taisen, MachinenKreiger...Tons of stuff.
Also tons of garage kits from Kaiyodo, Volks, Biliken, and others, resin and vinyl. Godzilla, Ultraman, Kamen Rider, almost any character you can imagine.
Most shops usually carry a good selection of PE and resin aftermarket gear.
Paints are mosty Tamiya and Gunze Sangyo, but the bigger shops have Testors and Humbrol stuff, too.
Sorry to ramble on, but they really do have EVERYTHING!
Great staff, too. They love talking about the hobby and enjoy the international interaction. My local shop often sponsors contests which are attended or judged by some of the Japanese industry's greats, like Armor Modeling's Masahiro Doi and Hobby Japan's Yamada Takuya (Takushi? He's one of the greats, but I can't remember his first name...).
The hobby shops usually have a great selection of reference material, but the normal bookstores also carry a great selection of hobby and special interest books. In addition to hobby mags Armor Modeling and Hobby Japan, there's Aviation Modeling, Model Graphic, Model Art, and Model Masters. For references, there's Achtung! Panzer, Ground Power, Koku Fan, and tons of other books on aircraft, ships, cars, and motorcycles.
The only problem? Budgeting! Time and finances. So much great stuff...hard to resist.
And no Future. I've never used it myself, but I want to give it a shot. There must be a Japanese equivalent!
To sum it all up, the hobby is thriving here in Japan (although the shop owners always say business is lousy!) with everything any modeler of any level needs. I suppose these days with the Internet you can get anything you like, but to walk into a shop and see it all right there, be able to browse through tons of stuff, and see great finished kits (most shops have a display case or two chock full of amazing works), is really an amazing thing for me.
Particulalry coming from a rural town in Georgia, I can't tell you how grateful I am for such an environment!
If anybody has any questions about Japanese stuff, I'd be glad to check it out.
Happy modeling, wherever you are!