Actually that seems very Japanese in a weird way - they might be trusting themselves and everyone else to follow rules precisely, thus avoiding all the accidents and obviating the need for seatbelts.
But to play your game, Switzerland and Italy, especially southern Italy, are very different.
And going back to the original intent: would you say driving in Zurich and driving in Naples are two distinct experiences?
I mean, Europe had an iron curtain for decades and that shows at the boundaries.